Yes, I know I'm weird...

Test

2010-05-12T09:51:00.001-07:00

Did I fix it?

Finished graduate school, back for the yearly post. :)

2009-12-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

All of this talk of dissertation-ing reminds me of this fuzzy memory I have of working on a long, long document. It's still 2008, right?

All kidding aside, I did finally finish graduate school in August and find the past year to be kinda fuzzy. Since I finished my defense in June I spent the summer making jams, jellies, applesauce, and canning foods. Also, I've learned how to sew, worked more on knitting (socks, specifically), and crocheted all kinds of things. I guess something has to take up the time, and I have to make up for all the time I spent on *only* writing. Hobbies need finished too, people!

Now, I have warm blankets I made, foods I canned, and other good things hanging around that I can enjoy (like a husband & son). It really doesn't seem real that I finished, but I did...

It's amazing the things you can finish when seriously procrastinating...

2008-10-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Man, do I need more than 160 characters for this one. I've been tweeting lately, rather than big-blogging on here. So, it's time for the 'yearly' post. BTW, if you're following this, I'm on twitter as LeighADLR if you can't get enough of this nerd.

I've been trying to get up earlier, which of all things, have been stumped by my alarm clock iHome not working the best with my iPhone - combined with my own feelings of having one more thing to do. I thought the problem with getting up early was with the myriad other situations in my house (noise, dogs, kid, husband, friends) but they're really not in the way. It's me. It's hard to leave everything at 8:30, when that's just around the time I get through with dinner and get to the things I want to do - like crocheting or watching a show on TV. I think it's even harder when I have a class that night - I don't get home until almost 8 some nights. If I get home at 3:00, it's much easier to go to bed at 8:30. When I get home at 7:30, it's nearly impossible. There's just too much to be done at home on a nightly basis.

So, instead of writing words on to my dissertation literature review, I'm writing here. I also have a midterm due by Friday. That's not too hard, the midterm, but it still needs done. And of course I pick a topic that makes me feel like a Gumby brain surgeon. So, I've been working on the parts other than that one (namely, philosopny of science and epistemology of science). But I'm running out of things to write that are not those two topics. So, tomorrow's going to be an all-epistemology, all-the-time day. It's just what needs to be done.

Time for more work, so I can truly just work on dissertation tomorrow. 15 days until I have to turn in the document, followed by an official proposal two weeks later. Should be done with this part before Thanksgiving. Let's hope.

So I took my doctoral qualifying exams last week...

2008-01-27T18:53:00.000-08:00

and it definitely feels like I'm getting somewhere closer to school. The comprehensive exams will be more difficult, but then it'll be ABD time (all but dissertation). Those will be in the beginning of the summer.

I'm still coordinating lots of things, and we have another couple of grants that support us continuing the work I've been doing. I'm still working on balancing work and home, and now that the hardest semester of school for me is over it's nice to have some time to do more things, like blogging, which I know Ed loves.

I've started dressing nicer, partially because it makes me feel better in this time of usual sadness from lack of light, and I wear makeup/lip things most days. I also, somehow, have picked up a skincare regimen. I guess I've realized that many of these things I've either avoided or just not paid attention to are important parts to growing up. I've always been eccentric with my combination of liking new and old stuff, current and old-skool. But I've found a need to grow up a little (and I've been doing kid-stuff at the same time, too.) It's time to start setting myself up for a grown-up job, namely a professorship somewhere. I put that off for a while when I first went back to school - but now it's in the forseeable future. So, I bought a new wardrobe that is comfortable but stylish, but then also had fun socks. I also remembered there's this thing called a dry cleaner to clean & press those things I don't want to mess with. Turns out there are many more options when you accept dry cleaning into your life.

Natha's going to through a Calvin & Hobbes stage, reading all of them he can find. He's also trying some of the humor on me. I've also started sending him lunches in paper bags with humorous writing on them. Sometimes it's mentioning something we heard lately (we are listening to all of the Series of Unfortunate Events books on CD but Lemony Snicket, but only those perfomed by Tim Curry) or sometimes it's a joke from Calvin, like writing in Alien-font "Earthling Lunch". There have also been some Verse Fluctuation Declarations, but only Fans of the Series would get that one. (OR read Wikipedia and figure it out.

I now have to go finish preparing a dinner of Eggplant Parmesan and Garlic Knots. I'm sure they'll like it, which is why I chose that. Hopefully it'll pry the two of them away from playing/watching someone play God of War II.

Hooray for cool stuff!

2006-09-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

Natha, Isaiah, and Zavier (Natha's partners in crime that were over for his birthday) are going to embark on this challenge and I'm very excited about it!!

I've also got my own del.icio.us account now, if you want to see me' links. It's here

Time for class... well, time for reading for the class which is later. Same diff.

We've survived Natha's first sleep-over party...

2006-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

But boy are we tired (and there were only two other kids!) We OD'd on pizza, Sprite, and Bugs Bunny last night, followed by a generous helping of MarioKart and WarioWare Mega Party this morning. They woke up at 6am this morning, trying to sneak downstairs without us hearing them so they could go play Star Wars *outside*. I hope they didn't wake the neighbors! I went outside about 30 minutes later to see what they were doing and they informed me that they had "quietly" went outside "because if we stayed inside and played we'd wake you up and you would get mad."

Damn right I'd be mad. It's 6:00am on a Saturday morning! (Just kidding, and I knew what they were doing the whole time, cursed Mother Ears...)

We then went to the Zoo, where we saw all of the animals (they ran between each exhibit), at lunch there, and played on the playground too. In the middle of the playgroud playing we had popsicles & and Icee.

Natha tried to "entertain" his guests with a 1970's Toho movie, Godzilla and King Ghidorah, but that didn't go over well last night, so we switched to some Looney Tunes. Now Natha's downstairs by himself watching it, happy as a clam. I forget how odd he is compared to most kids. Part of that's from my influence, and part of it just happened.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs and came across the following link. For those of you who don't understand modern American art, particularly Jackson Pollock, this site explains it for the kinesthenic computer person. It's all about evidence of movement. At least to me it is. :)

I'm going to go downstairs and read some more magazines, since Ed's nowhere to be found. I think he ran off with Uncles Bob & Scott, perhaps to the Int'l market or to a home improvement store of some kind. O Husband, Where Art Thou? Damn them all to Hell if they went to see Snakes on a Plane after I specifically told them I wanted to go with. (That would mean something if I really believed there was a Hell to go to, but you get the point.)

Speaking of which, another hilariously funny link lies here, where you can have Samuel L. Jackson send someone an amazingly personalized message via email or phone. Even if you don't send it, it's funny to create and listen to what it says. It reminds me of when Pythonline had the option to send someone an email 'abusing' them Monty Python style. For example, you could tell someone you would Fart in their General Direction, then sign the letter Your Ex-Parrot. I sent those to many-a-person before it disappeared.

Well, time for the weekly 'nothing'! Yay!

My mom is going to have Natha for the weekend...

2006-08-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

...his last before 1st grade. School starts Monday and we should be able to find out his teacher's and classmates' names this afternoon on our way to Mama's.

Natha and I have had a last-hurrah time these last two days - I've been at home since I'm not as busy with work. We've watched many-a-movie and he's been on me like white on rice. Yesterday was more errands, and we watched Osmosis Jones in the afternoon. Today's been more of a TV-fest with Empire Strikes Back, several Bugs Bunny cartoons (including Bully for Bugs), three episodes of Futurama (for Ed, Scott, and Bob, that would be Fry and the Slurm Factory, Mars University, and When Aliens Attack), and now he's watching Mystery Men. We're an Indiana Jones movie and a UHF short of our brains exploding. :)

Ed and I had an interesting night last night. He's had more latinosity (as we call it) lately for several reasons - and I'm not used to it yet. Those two things breed many a misunderstanding. It's since been worked out, though. He's just got more pizzaz about him, and he's more *extreme!* than I've been used to - that plus my funk/stress level lately means I'm not as tolerant. Crisis averted, however, after a mini-catharsis.

I'm not sure what's planned for this weekend. Since I'm the seemingly-social director, you think I'd have some idea on a Friday afternoon. I might need to make some calls to make sure we're not spending Saturday night washing out proverbial hair.

I taught Natha something I'm not sure I should have... but he does seem to enjoy it. In the movie Kung Fu Hustle the Landlady chases the main character away from Pig Sty Alley saying things like "Axe Gang, my ass!" and "Boss, my ass!" so I felt I should explain when one should use that phrase...

So, now Natha's using it correctly sometimes and overdoes it too. I think it's funny, though. Kind of like this morning when Natha came to get me out of bed. I admit, I enjoy lounging and am not the easiest to get up in the morning. Natha came in this morning and told me that if I got up really quick we could all go eat breakfast this morning before Ed went to work. (Ed was already downstairs and awake.) I, of course, got out of bed and got dressed really quick. While I was downstairs getting dressed, Ed came into the room and it became obvious that Ed had told Natha the two of them would go get breakfast by themselves - but Natha decided that he would change the story slightly to get me out of bed & going.

Breakfast, my ass!

Yay for science education!

2006-08-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

This article in its entirety can be found here , but I'm also including the first part in this post...

Evolution Fight Shifts Direction in Kansas Vote
By MONICA DAVEY and RALPH BLUMENTHAL

TOPEKA, Kan., Aug. 2 — Less than a year after the Kansas Board of Education adopted science standards that were the most wide-reaching in the nation in challenging Darwin’s theory of evolution, voters on Tuesday ousted the conservative majority on the board that favored those guidelines.

Several of the winners in the primary election, whose victories are virtually certain to shift the board to at least a 6-to-4 moderate majority in November, promised Wednesday to work swiftly to restore a science curriculum that does not subject evolution to critical attack.

They also said they would try to eliminate restrictions on sex education passed by the current board and to review the status of the education commissioner, Bob Corkins, who they said was hired last year with little background in education.

My mom sent me this, and I found it hilarious.

2006-08-01T07:37:00.000-07:00

If you've seen it and it's 'old' to you, then just ignore. :)

"I have 2 Labrador Retrievers & I was buying a large bag of Purina
at Wal-Mart and was in line to check out.
A woman behind me asked if I had a dog. On impulse, I told her that
no, I was starting The Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't
because I'd ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50
pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out
of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.
I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way
that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and
simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry & that the food is
nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again.
I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by
now enthralled with my story, particularly a guy who was behind her.
Horrified, she asked if I'd ended up in the hospital in that
condition because I had been poisoned. I told her no; it was because
I'd been sitting in the street licking my balls and a car hit me."

Looks like there's a small grant I can take the lead on - so I'll be diving (with help) into the writing-small-grants pool. I've also got to clean a bunch of stuff up at work - it makes you really tired, but it's fun. It's one of those NP-complete problems, or for you non-math folks, it's a packing problem. I'm sorting and packing things into many many small bins. That's why you're drained at the end of a day of packing when you're moving.

I also feel like a person. Not too much work, just enough, and I'm slowly stopping tutoring since it's zapping the life from me. (I have to arrange my weekly schedule around an hour meeting, and when that meeting doesn't pay more than the rest of the work, that's a pain in the arse.) I really love working with the kids - but my family needs more of a mommy. I'm also happy, somewhat well-balanced mentally, and sociable - which is a far cry from how I've felt lately. I could get one of the three at a time but no more...

My dad, stepmother, and brother are visiting this weekend - we haven't seen them since my brother's bar mitzvah last year... should be a fun time!

The pictures (at least some) are up now...

2006-07-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

on Flickr - you can see them here . I tried to label them, and they're not all of the pictures, but you get the point...

:)

So I couldn't take it anymore...

2006-07-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

and I went to DC this past weekend to be by myself and have a good time relaxing in the presence of myriad museums and have some time to think...

and it worked. :)

I'm in the process of creating a flickr account so I can put my pictures up for the world to see. When I do that I'll let you know.

So Natha's watching the original 1933 King Kong - it was the next thing in his Netflix bin. We put the DVD in there and I went into the other room to work on laundry. Natha came in a few minutes later to tell me the DVD was broken and to come fix it - that it said "Over" and wasn't working. So, I went in there thinking it was scratched or something similar... turns out it was the opening overture and Natha wasn't aware of such a thing. I told him it was the music they played along with the movie, and that this was a really old movie - his great-grandmother was a kid when it came out! He said , "Oh. That's really old." He proceeded to then listen to the rest of the overture until the movie came on...

There are times when, as a parent, you feel all warm & fuzzy over something small that means your kid has actually been learning what you've taught him instead of it going in one ear and out the other. I had one of those today. Natha and I were getting lunch at Subway and Natha decided that he'd rather have no meat and just vegetables on his sandwich - including things like spinach, green peppers, and cucumbers...

I've got to go situate a few more things in the house while I'm at it. I bought some more of those febreeze Noticeables and I'm strategically placing them where it makes the house much less stinky. There are just areas of natural funk I don't seem to be able to do anything about, so I'm just going to cover them up for now...

Today's the first non-work day in a long time...

2006-06-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ed's been asking when he gets his wife back, and Natha keeps asking "Why do you have to do all these work things?"

July 1st it will be calmed down again. The job I'm doing now is feast or famine, but fortunately I should get paid a regular salary regardless. We'll find out in July for sure.

Natha's been in Alabama with Nana Becky (Kazu's mom) for a week now and we're really starting to miss the kid. I couldn't listen to Video Killed the Radio Star yesterday, and we're going to call him later today and see what he's doing. We talked to him on tuesday and he told all three of us (me, Ed, and Uncle Bob) about the same bear tattoo he now has, and that he bought it for $.50. It's a grizzle bear of some sort where he's making a snarly face. We'll see it soon enough, I'm sure.

I'm about to go get my nails done and then do grocery shopping for the first time in 2 weeks. It'll be nice to have some food around here that can be used for lunch & dinner.

I realized yesterday that the reason I'm not all gung-ho about being a high school science teacher is because of the 'debate' over evolution & ID. I don't want to have to 'defend' a position against something that is not at all scientifically based - it would be too frustrating to have to worry about conforming to school board policy which usually avoids the pink elephant in the room because it's easier.

I'm sure I'll expound more later, but for now I need to be a wife and take care of some house things, like feeding people and folding laundry. :)

So I'm now finished with the Master's...

2006-05-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

...but I don't really feel much different. Sure, I feel quite accomplished for having the GPA that I do, and I've been around the school long enough to know the ins & outs of being a teaching assistant and graduate student. However, I don't feel 'done' yet. I guess that it's because I have an Ed.D I'd like to start in the fall. Since I have to take education classes in the fall in order to be a high school teacher, I'd like for them to count towards a degree. I've also wanted a doctorate since I knew what one was (although the subject has changed several times). So in that sense I'm not 'done', especially since I'm applying to the School of Education at the same school I've just graduated from. I'm not getting an 'administration & supervision' degree, though - my concentration will be in curriculum planning.

I've since (the end of march) started working as a tutor for an in-home tuoring company as well as done a few small private tutoring sessions in various subjects. Other than the nice hourly wage, it's helped me to realize that I like teaching math, too. As part of my Ed.D. I could imagine taking enough math classes to get an endorsement in math, in addition to the chemistry & biology. A lot of my students have trouble in both Algebra I and Physical Science, so I've spent some time lately helping with algebra-ish topics. I think I could also get the endorsement for earth & space science by taking the Praxis II after I'm finished with my other 'summer' job that I fell into - writing an astrobiology (some call it exobiology) curriculum for a particular client who is going to post it on their website as 'open source' curriculum planning materials. The next two weeks in particular I'm going to spend a nice chunk of time working on that. I've been given a field-testing ground by working with the SEMAA program here in Nashville and then I'll be 'presenting' and 'teaching' the curriculum to other teachers at this seminar this summer. I'm also going to be working as an instructor at this one too. Talk about a setup right out of a Master's degree. One of my professors was wanting to help with the astrobiology and happened to remember that I a) had the time b)knew biology and chemistry well and c)wanted to eventually do curriculum planning in science/math - so he introduced me to the right people.

On to other non-teaching topics...

Natha's been reading even more lately - now he's just to where he has to work on fluency in reading and needs lots and lots of practice. Last night he read an entire book to me (40+ pages) that I used to read to him as a kid. He even held the book himself while he was reading, spelled out the words he wanted help with, and only let me see the book when it was time for him to 'show me the page' when he was done reading it. I bought him a couple more books today that are certain 'reader levels' that promote reading fluency and look like cooler 'older kid books' and are *way* more interesting than the sight word books that he started on. Don't get me wrong, he needed to start with those to get the confidence to read bigger books (he though reading was this thing that older people did and he wouldn't ever get to do - he even asked me who was going to read him a story when he went away to college). Now, though, he can handle a bit more. I'll still get him to work with the sight word books this summer along with other books - I'm going to test out the curriculum planning with him, I think. That will keep us busy when there's not as much going on (which means during the month of July, right now).

I'm going to transition back to being healthier both mentally and pnd physically now that I've got some more time - so it's back to yoga, journaling, and being more emotive in general. Ed's become a bit tired of having a stoic for a wife, and I feel like I'm going to explode (or porriibly implode) from keeping everything - positive and negative - inside my head. I've learned to take out the 'things to do' lists so that I can calm down more before sleeping... so I just need to apply the same effort to get the emotions out both on paper and in person so that I can calm down a bit more and not always seem distant or distracted. Sure, it was sort of a necessity for a while there since there wasn't time to do anything alternate. Now, however, there's no good reason for it. I'll probably get my journal out tonight and probably start writing in tomorrow after I go to yoga. I think a good reflective practice of journaling about life, yoga, and teaching will help all three. :)

Ed's no longer in the basement, so I'm going to go hang out with him for a bit before going to bed... We went to the Gerst Haus tonight with Uncle Bob and Scott and just about ate our weight in sausage. I also had a beer that I like (which is amazing since I don't ever drink beer). Turns out when you're not drinking cheap, crappy American beer (like the stuff you keep around in college) it's pretty darn good. I'll have to find out the name of it - I think it's either German or Belgian. I also like the idea that you can put lemon into a beer and that's ok!

Yet again, time has flown.

2006-04-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

And in this last month lots of things have transpired. I now have a job tutoring in addition to my schooling and housewivery - and I'm hopefully going to have a contract working on an astrobiology curriculum (educating students about the sources of the materials and conditions from which life on earth arose). That won't start until next week and will go until at least the end of June, if not longer. Ed's *very* happy that I now make some money, even if it's not a lot. Like I wasn't busy enough before... but I do like what I'm doing so it's still not really -work-.

I'm a little less than a month away from graduation and I think my probability class might stress me out even more in the next month - I have to learn how to take a double integral. To explain my previous foray into math prior to this class explains why this is a potential source of stress... The last (and only) time I took calculus was 8 years ago and I took Business calculus (also known as calculus for people who don't need any more math). I do like math, and I'm glad I have this challenge. The Hermione in me, though, does get a little stressed. Ed thinks it's hot that I want to spew math at him as a way of preparing for a test and that I tutor Algebra I. Hey, whatever floats his boat. :P

I need to go do laundry and take a shower - and I'm not doing any more work until tomorrow. I think I'm going to go watch some recorded Science channel program that would bore the stuffing out of most anyone. Or, if I can keep Natha occupied & out of the room, I'll watch Desperate Housewives. That probably won't work though, and he'll end up watching Spongebob and I'll end up doing laundry and cleaning up the house. Oh well.

Let's go see what happens now!

So my mom sent me this funny thing about men & women...

2006-03-07T12:39:00.000-08:00

and since Ed and I laughed about it I thought I'd share some of it. These are little snippets about the difference between men & women.

MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

CATS
Women love cats.

Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.

THE FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

THE NATURAL LOOK
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.

Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

Ed particularly liked that last one.

It seems like I'm finally over the allergies (mind you, with lots of prescriptions) that struck last wednesday. I'm glad this week is spring break and I don't have to use my brain - it wouldn't work under the influence of these antihistamines & decongestants anyways. :)

So Natha had a bad dream about Thriller last night...

2006-02-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

...so I went up to his room and tried to give him some tools to think of to make the dream less scary - like thinking of a map when you're having a dream about being lost or thinking of his favorite dog, Luci, when a monster is chasing him. He got distracted from thinking about the dream, went to the bathroom, and went back to sleep. This morning after breakfast he informed me that if zombies were to attack the house that he'd take care of it - he's lead them into the office where the computer is, then turn on the Thriller video. The zombies would then hear the music, get distracted, and start dancing. That would solve the zombie problem. I commended him for his quick thinking and problem solving skills. 'Cause if we get attacked by zombies, the odds are that something seemingly silly like that would actually solve the problem.

I took the first math test I've had in almost 8 years on friday - I'm used to 3-hour-long essay tests about the intricacies of molecular biology, not 50 minute math tests where you answer 4 problems in less than a paragraph. Fortunately the instructor thought ahead and put a 20 point bonus question at the end, of which I'm sure I got at least part of it correct. I screwed up one of the 25 point problems completely, though - I approached it wrong in the first place, then was overconfident that I'd solved it enough to not go back and re-think it. Ah, I'll just have to learn from it. Doesn't do any good to beat my brain silly over it - that would just paralyze me to the point where I'd shut down.

One of my classes is on weekends - 3 weekends a semester, to be exact. I thought I had class this weekend and then I realized I didn't - which was nice, because I didn't feel like studying yet and since this is the last weekend of class there's a test *and* the final exam on saturday. So, I can spend next week working on my independent studies, grading, and studying for this psychology class. As if that's not enough.

Ed went to work out today - the first time in a while. I try to get him to work out but the easiest way to get him to do that is to play racquetball with him. The problem is that I despise racquetball and all it stands for. He subsequently doesn't want to play with me if I'm not interested in it, and the problem is that I'm not ever going to be the slightest bit interested in being in a little room, moving quickly and smacking the crap out of a little ball with a racquet. He's got a better chance of me playing basketball with him, honestly. He's partially going to start working out for health reasons, but also because he's gained weight since we've been together and isn't happy about that. He asked me the other day why I didn't seem to be very concerned about it - I told him that I loved him for who he was and not what he looked like, and that my two reasons for being concerned are 1)because of health reasons and 2)because it bothers him. I'm actually kind of conflicted about it because I've taken good enough care of him and cooked enough good meals to fatten him up, which is flattering to me. I derive a lot of happiness from making sure people are taken care of, and gaining weight is one of those signs. :)

I've got to go check on the kid and start working on ecology and grading for labs - I'm getting emails from people asking how they're doing and I need something more concrete to tell them than just 'you're fine!'

So today's the designated day for me to do nothing...

2006-02-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

...since we *actually* got snow last night and this morning and our driveway is a huge hill that doesn't bode well to travel during a wintery mix. I'm personally 100% ok with driving in snow, it's just that our driveway is quite an incline and *starting* the travel in our case is the prohibitive factor. Ed went this morning and moved the cars down to the street sliding all the way so we can go somewhere - we just decided not to this morning.

I was quite excited to have the house to myself last night - Ed, Natha, and Uncle Bob went to ArenaCross last night and then went out to an asian restaurant where they have fish neck. I stayed home, made a prosciutto sandwich and parked on the couch to watch a movie. Since we have DVR (where we can record shows and watch them whenever - the digital cable's TiVo) I accumulate movies that I'd like to watch but don't have the time to watch right then. Most of them are regarding topics Ed and Natha would whine about if subjected to - so I have to wait until they're gone or at least don't want to play video games for a while before I can start them. Last night it was between Chicago (which I'd already seen but wanted to see again) and Secretary. The latter won, and I sat there under a blanket with the fire on and watched the whole thing. Since it was on the Oxygen channel, I think that several key parts were missing so I'll have to get the unedited version sometime. Still, you get the point and it's a well-made movie. Not something you can watch with the kids underfoot - just the movie to watch when everyone's out of the house. I should have opened a bottle of riesling and made it a girl's night (as compared to a girls' night.) I was in bed and had just fallen asleep when they got home. Then from them waking me up I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up and went downstairs and ate some peanut butter cups before we both went to bed.

Natha just came in and was asking to look up Thriller since we were watching Vh1 and there was something on there about it. So we consulted Google and found this which may start a bit slow but it's worth watching the whole thing to see the little lego people dance at the end. :)

It's time to go eat dinner for Erin's birthday, which was yesterday - I think we're going to a Mediterranean restaurant. So Later....

So I also forgot to mention...

2006-02-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

...something that has to do with the previous post before the hiatus - Natha doesn't sing to himself when he's on the soma (as we call it). As the medicine wears off, he starts singing and spinning around in circles... :)

The funny thing was that the school psychologist (who didn't spend but maybe 30 minutes on his case and obviously didn't spend much time with him) was concerned that he was talking to himself. I promply told them that he was actually singing, if they listen closely. She also said she was concerned that he scored high in the atypicality portion. To that I replied that seeing as though I was always atypical I saw it as a positive aspect of his personality.

Here's another odd note about him - he's a collector. He picks up random things off the floor or things otherwise discarded and keeps them. He then usually sticks them in his pockets and I find them in the dryer. I've found keys attached to strings, beads, rocks, and paper clips. It's so much of a problem that I've had to threaten him with taking money away from him if I find anything else in the dryer. In one load alone I found 7 rocks, 2 paper clips, 3 buttons and a quarter. And that's a week's worth of clothes. He even asks me where his 'collections' are sometimes. Yep, my son's a collector.

If you want to hear a (what I consider to be cool) podcasts, check these out. And they're free! :)

So EEK! I didn't realize it had been this long...

2006-02-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

...since I posted here. I have a livejournal that gets updated every once-in-a-while, but still more than this. I suppose I should post here more often considering my honey forks over $$ for this particular domain name. :)

Speaking of which, the honey has arrived.

We've moved into the house, put almost everything away, I started my last semester of school before I graduate, and I'm quite busy with that. 15 hours will do that to you (regular class load for a graduate student is 9 hours.)

Correction, that was a neighbor going to their house. I went and got all excited for No good Reason.

Natha had the full testing/evaluation to see what's going on in his little head and the conclusion by the medication-conservative psychologist is that - get this - he just needs medication. No counseling, no parenting classes, just a few behavior modifications at home and school and a little pill with breakfast in the morning. Ed and I both enjoy better living through chemistry, so why wouldn't we allow him to?

And man, with the medicine, he's like the super-perfect kid. He's still himself, just shinier, calmer, and not as "why the hell did you do that?" He also seems to like himself more - he realizes he has control over himself. He's been able to pay attention long enough to do things like read a book - before he would want to do it, but get distracted and/or frustrated after 2 words. Now he can sound out the words and remembers his sight words better. He's just as well behaved if not more than the other kids in the class, too. They're no longer saying his name all the time because he did something he shouldn't have.

We'd adjusted to how he was as he grew up and accepted it - I never wore high-heeled shoes, only flats, when I was around him so that I could chase after him at a moment's notice. That's cool for a 2 year old, but I had to do that up until he was over 5. People said that he was just a boy and he's grow out of it - and not to do anything. They made me quite mad because they didn't see him not wanting to be doing the things wrong - he wanted to sit still and behave and he couldn't. He started thinking that his teacher giving him a sticker for behaving was a completely stochastic process.

Enough about that - I've got to go cook the midget some grub. Hopefully I'll find some more time later to vent my mind about all things *ME*. :)

So the fruits of our slightly-misplaced labors have slowly appeared...

2005-12-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

especially in the last few days. We've always listened to lots of different music, mainly classic rock/psychedelia and 80's pop (and a little opera). He's always had his own taste in music - we've exposed him to different songs and he's had his favorites which he sticks to pretty faithfully. One time I had to listen to Video Killed the Radio Star on a loop from Bowling Green to Nashville just to keep him from screaming (he was about 18 months old). Lately he's been really into the Gorillaz, and he's been singing (a capella) the following songs at random times of the day:
Fat-bottomed Girls (Queen)
Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
FeelGood, Inc. (Gorillaz)
Spanish Caravan (The Doors)
Baba O'Riley (The Who)
White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane)
Beethoven's Ode to Joy

He was about three when I started telling him who sang the song we were listening to at that moment hoping it would lodge in his little brain. My mom really didn't ever expose me to particular music and tell me the artists - we listened to what was on the radio. Don't get me wrong, my family was musically oriented - just not guilty of listening to a large range of songs and talking about them. Last night at Toot's the song playing in the background was Roxanne, and Natha said in a very excited voice, "Hey - that's the Police!" I didn't hear him at first, so I asked him to repeat it - and Ed and I were both surprised. The Police was what I was listening to when we started paying attention to artists and their songs. Once I told him that the Police sang Roxanne, he asked me if it was the same police that drove in the white cars with the blue lights. We then had a short conversation about band names - that it was a group of people who called themselves a thing and that they weren't necesarily that thing. My example was the Beatles - that they sang songs and they weren't really little bugs. When you're listening to something without a visual when you're 3, you can get some interesting thoughts in your head. I think that Natha liked Bouncing Round the Room when he was 2 because he thought little fish were singing it. :)

Thus started my habit of informing Natha of an artist's name when we were listening to a song. He's slowly been catching on - one time he told me that a Beatles song on the Oldies station was by the Beatles and I hadn't ever listened to it with him before. Today I was wearing my White Rabbit shirt (more Alice in Wonderland themed) and Ed commented that he thought it was cute on me. Natha looked at it and said, "White Rabbit - like the song?" Then there was the time Natha told me that the sound of me taping lots of boxes (when we were moving) sounded like Money - the beginning part. It took me a while to understand what he was talking about, but I eventually figured out what he was saying.

We had an interesting discussion one day (Natha and I) about where the music comes from. I told him that the radio was playing recorded music and that the people weren't actually there at the radio station. I added that the radio station changed the music into radio waves and broadcast it and our car received the radio waves and converted it back to music. He had thought that the people were singing live at the radio station. We were listening to Piece of My Heart and he asked me who sang the song. I told him that it was Janis Joplin. He asked me if she was at the radio station, and I explained to him that she was dead, that this song was recorded, and that we were listening to the recording. He then wanted to know how she had died, and I came up with a tasteful answer (I don't remember exactly what it was.) For the next week, whenever I told him who was singing a song, he asked me if they were dead. Some of them were, and some weren't - and I had to think really hard about some of them. :)

I've also had to explain to him why some songs have words and others don't - and why some just have singing without words. At first he didn't understand why I liked Great Gig in the Sky - he said it was just this girl singing with no words. Now he doesn't ask me anymore and he'll even sing along sometimes.

Well, I've got to go get the guest room ready and rearrange some things. I'm almost done putting away the christmas decorations. It's not like we have that many, I just had started and then Ed called me to go to lunch so I left it there. Everything we have fits in the tree box and one other small box. We're not into much hubub, if you haven't noticed, and christmas is no exception. :)

So I got sick of laying around and got my butt in gear...

2005-12-29T23:18:00.000-08:00

...cause being sick and pining for my honey didn't get me very far. I've pretty much finshed fixing up our bedroom and bathroom - I need to get two more stackable cube unit thingies to use temporarily until we create a bed from them with drawers underneath. My office is still a mess and will probably remain so until Natha goes back to school next wednesday. The christmas decorations need to be taken down (all 5 of them) and put away in the basement and the guest room needs putting together - those two will be tackled tomorrow. I'm striking a balance between spending time with Natha and getting things done around the house. If I spend too much time on the house, Natha turns into a heathen, and if I spend all my time with him, I sit around like a knot on a log. It's been quite warm here the last couple days so Natha's been playing outside, drawing Death Stars and Clone Trooper armies on the driveway.

Ed's still not home yet - this is his busiest time of the year, so he's working more than most humans could. We went to Toot's for dinner together, though - which was some quality eatin' time. The only problem with him being gone so long is getting in the habit of eating dinner at a restaurant instead of cooking at home. We'd gotten into a routine of home-cookin' that has since fallen by the wayside. When I've got a husband back I'll start cooking again - and I'll still cook things if we don't eat dinner together and leave him LO's in the fridge which always makes him happy. He'll also be happy that there are only two small boxes left in our bedroom - everything else is put away and I assembled nightstands for each of us today so it doesn't look like we're camping out anymore.

Thank goodness for the programmable thermostats - they make it possible for us to only heat the house in the parts we're using. We have two separate units - one for the ground floor and one for the bedrooms and my office - which are both set for different temperatures at different times of the day. Ed keeps looking for the gas bill, which hasn't arrived yet, to get an idea of the scope of what it costs to heat this behemoth house. The reason I mention that is because it's currently colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra in Ed's office where I'm typing - which it's supposed to be this time of night - so I'm cutting this post short(er) and going in the living room to snuggle under my huge foreign blanket and rotisserie in front of our gas fireplace...

So yes, I know, it's been a while...

2005-12-23T16:42:00.000-08:00

but there's been a lot going on. Here's the laundry list:

In the past month, we've...
bought a log mansion,
started home improvements,
moved to said log mansion,
finished teaching lab for the semester,
finished my classes for the semester,
I've had a bad allergy attack,
I've had strep throat,
I've figured out I have Seasonal Affective Disorder,
we've all had the stomach flu (during finals!),
we've started evaluating Natha for possible issues,
we hopefully have solved all car issues (after replacing the MAF sensor *and* catalytic converter), among other things.

So Natha and I are now home for the holiday break - and he's driving me slightly mad. Now he's been doing this piecemeal for a while now - whenever we're home for longer than an afternoon he gets antsy and I get annoyed. I haven't quite figured out exactly what he does more than to say he's pestering me. One day last week Natha came up to me and said, "You'd better play with me or I'll start annoying you." No joke - and it was true!

He was wound up after lunch and was about to send him up to his room - then I remembered we now have a *backyard* that he can play in! So, I gave him his parameters and turned him loose. He came back in much more manageable, I must say. He then did two worksheets (school-like stuff) and then played Godzilla for a while. Now we're watching Episode I with Uncle Bob. Bob isn't really his name - Natha walked up to him one of the first times they had met and said 'Bob - hey bob" over and over again even though we introduced him as Sean before. So, the name stuck and now he's Uncle Bob, or sometimes Tio Bob. He's even got his own chair in our living room...

Ed bought me the prettiest earrings the other day - and he spent a lot of time trying to find them since what I want isn't exactly all over the place. They're emerald bezel-set round earrings. They're petite and very pretty. They're what I didn't even know I wanted. Yes, sometimes he doesn't get it right the first time - but this time he did and I've very happy with them. Thank you honey. :)

I got a new washer and dryer - a GE Profile Harmony series - and they're grey and absolutely wonderful. When you're finished with the washing it tells the dryer how to dry the clothes - so all you have to do is put the clothes in there and press start. I got them two weeks ago and I'm still all giddy about them.

I've got a bunch of unpacking still to do and some storage things to assemble that were recently purchased at Target. I've wanted to slow down the last couple of days, though, instead of working all day on stuff for the house. I've also been trying to approach our time off as time to do things with Natha instead of just occupy him until he can go back to school. So, we've been doing schoolwork-like things, craft things (like making models from clay), and watching Animal Planet together. He gets some attention and he behaves a bit better, so it makes like easier. I don't get as much done around the house, but life is slightly smoother during the day. Right on cue, Ed gets busy finishing a project right when I'm not as busy - but it's not so bad yet... but it's also not over yet...

I've been making Ed and Natha very happy lately since I've been cooking every meal that we've been home for - breakfast and dinner at least, and most lunches for Natha and I. When I've got the time, I don't mind doing it. The biggest hurdle for me is deciding what to cook and having all the ingredients to cook a given thing. So, we have a schedule to stick to - and I'm all about lists of things to do. Every day of the week has a different meal. When we get tired of that I'm sure we'll replace nights with different themes as needed... but it keeps me from having chef's block.

Ah, Jar-Jar. Everyone always found him to be annoying, but I've always kind of liked him. I'm going to go watch the pod race now...

So we'll find things on occasion that Natha forgot about and just left somewhere...

2005-11-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

...like little drawings on the walls of three smiley faces, drawn in pencil. Or today, we found a partially squashed egg on the floor of the closet. After his fascination post-March of the Penguins I had been keeping a closer eye on the number of eggs in the carton - so I know that it's been there in the closet for a while. We asked him if he remembered what happened and of course he didn't. So now I've got to figure out how to get dried egg, shell and all, out of the carpet...

As Ed wonderfully reminded me via LiveJournal, yesterday (AKA Thanksgiving Day) was our one-month anniversary. I'd had lots of stuff going on so I hadn't really been counting. When you're planning on spending at least 50 years with someone, you don't remember to count by the month. :)

It's been an interesting month (I've been sick 3 times in the last month, all different things), and life seem to have gotten back on track a bit, especially now that the semester's winding down. Thanks honey, for being patient while there were issues galore. It's nice to know that the 'In sickness and in health' thing really means something...

We went over to a friend's house for the thursday festivities and had more food than one should be able to shake a stick at - and then some more food after that. Ed and I then came home, put Natha to bed, and continued with our 2nd annual Thanksgiving tradition of watching *all* of Gone with the Wind. We got about halfway through (the 'I'll never go hungry again' line) and went to bed. We were vegetables when we got up and watched the last part. Natha came by and would watch for a minute, then get more interested in his GameBoy - he's got Lego Star Wars and finally beat Episode I today (he was excited about fighting Darth Maul.) We've spent today all doing various things that we wanted to/needed to do. Ed had some quiet time in his office to work on important and not-so-important things, and Natha watched some movies, painted, and drew a few pictures along with the GameBoy. I cleaned some things up, went through some old stuff, and did lots of laundry and some ironing. Ed went to the Boro partially to see some friends as well as to get out of my hair and avoid cabin fever - I've got a lot of work to do for school this weekend. Some of it has to be done this weekend and part of it could be done later but I'm trying to be ahead of things...

Natha's watching SpongeBob and ate some dinner (popcorn chicken, two hot dogs, and a clemetine) and is about to get ready for bed. Then it's time for me to start working on a take-home test that is due monday for Cell Biology. It's all essay, of course, and some of them are easier than others, of course...

So Ed and I have had the entire weekend to ourselves...

2005-11-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

...since Natha's with the grand-'rents. We started thinking about what we could do this weekend that we normally couldn't do when we had Natha - so we spent friday night with friends at our house, then we went to Logan's for a late dinner. We accomplished two of the big things friday night - staying up late and drinking... Then yesterday we went to Toot's (something we do with Natha all the time) and went to the Sears Outlet (AKA where all the appliances are cheaper since they're scratch & dent models) then to the International Market on Nolensville road... So we spent the day walking around stores looking at things, which was the other big thing on the list. It was a short list, though - just about anything we'd want to do we could anyways...

Last night we stayed home and watched TV last night - I ordered a small pizza and Ed ate some of the noodles he bought at the international market - they're the original ramen noodles in a bowl with all kinds of flavors. Natha and I have converted Ed to our habit of watching America's Funniest Home Videos whenever we can watch it - so we watched quite a bit of that last night. We also found some old-time burlesque shows (Betty Page) on and watched some Monty Python (including the Lumberjack Song) and some Kids in the Hall (30 Helens Agree).

Ed thinks that I'm writing about how much I love him - so I should at least say something to that effect so he doesn't get sad when he reads this in a minute (I won't let him read my entries until they're posted). Well, honey, I've had a really good time doing a whole lot of nothing with you this weekend - it reminds me of how we're somehow ideally suited for each other... We don't get tired of each other, regardless of how much time we're together... whether that's a function of knowing each other not even 2 years or just each having very variable interests which always means there's something else to talk about or do. I think we're also each willing to hear what the other person's saying even if it's something we're initially not interested in - like the other person's enthusiasm is enough to get us to listen...

I finally posted a picture of us - Ed got his hair cut yesterday so he's Freddie Mercury-ish now, which I think is *hot*. I think he's getting used to my hair - I know he likes the cut, but now how dark it is relatively speaking. I like it, though, which is what counts...

Well, I should change out of my robe and take a shower or something. We'll go get Natha at 5pm so we've got quite a bit of time until then to do more Nothing... which is always fun...

So Ed and I got all worked up last night from watching the West Wing...

2005-11-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

...mainly from thinking how much better politics would be if debates were really run like that - and if the candidates were truly just democrats and republicans rather than liberals and conservatives. I do think that Santos handed Vinick his ass on a platter, though...

I watched TV for the first time in a while last night - starting with the West Wing, which I watch every sunday (or at least record to watch sometime that week) - then I watched Desperate Housewives and Gray's Anatomy. I feel like since so many people think those are good shows I should at least watch them every once in a while to not completely be out of the loop. We saw some ads for ER, which is a good show, but Ed couldn't handle the mushy bits so I don't talk him into watching it with me. I know better than to try and do that. If the show is centered around a) a hospital, doctor's office, or other place where medical procedures are shown or b) involves a lot of embarassment for the characters I know better than to try and get Ed to watch it. He knows better than to get upset when I don't watch Ultimate Fighter with him. I think that it's funny that they talk about it being MMA - mixed martial arts - when it's just two people trying to beat the crap out of each other using various techniques.

Natha's been in that fighting-something-off-but-not-quite-sick mood. You know, where you sleep a lot and you're not quite yourself, but you don't really have any distinct symptoms. He's had a fever but nothing else, really. I had to drag his butt out of bed this morning and we barely made it to school on time (because of traffic). I then went to get some Fix-a-Flat for Ed's tire, and picked up breakfast at Starbucks. I remembered to get a decaf latte - I forget that they'll leave the caffeine out if I ask...

I worry sometimes about my ears - I have Meniere's disease and have had it since I was about 16 or 17. It's a progressive disease, and I don't have very severe symptoms - the symptoms I have I control with diet, proper amounts of sleep, and stress minimization. I can't help but think that I'm one day going to have much worse symptoms, including the vertigo that is the most debilitating part of the disease. I haven't had vertigo since I've known how to try and prevent it - but I'm also only 26. The ringing in my ears is the most persistent symptom I have, and it's gotten worse over the last year or so... I don't obsess, but I most certainly wonder if it's something that will cause me trouble down the line...

Well, I should go study now for my test tonight - it's the last one I'll have for a couple of weeks, when I start the next round of tests in all of my classes...