Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Good-Bye Artemus


Artemus passed away on Saturday, December 18 at home. He had been diagnosed with feline leukemia in November, and so we knew all we could do was make him comfortable as there is no cure or meds for that. He rallied for a bit and was eating, cleaning himself, and even playing some. However, in the last few days, he had less of an appetite and was drinking almost constantly. We knew we'd have to make a decision soon.

On Thursday evening, Ken and I left for an Army conference in Denver, CO and received a call Saturday morning from our neighbor who was watching the cats. He told us that Artemus had pased away early that morning at home. I am so sad that I was not there for him as he passed, but I am grateful that God allowed him to be at home when he went. I miss him terribly as he was "my" cat, always cuddling with me while I was grading in the chair, following me to bed every night, and really being my shadow around the house. He was my "serious" cat, not one to give in to the silly antics of his fellow cats, even giving looks of disapproval to the other cats at times.

I just hope he knew how much we loved him and that we made his three years with us the best that they could have been. So long, my Moo Moo.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

This week is insane. Yes, insane.

So I thought I was doing really good by getting so many portfolios graded early. Okay, that is a good thing, yes, but what was I thinking about taking on all this other stuff? On top of grading portfolios and final exams, I agreed to review another textbook (for $150 who wouldn't??) but that needs to be done by Thursday. Then I have the Division holiday party to get ready for Wednesday night -- we're hosting the 6-8 p.m. version with desserts & drinks at our house. So I've been making Christmas treats for a while now and need to make more this afternoon (and of course clean or something like it). Then there's needing to get final grades posted by Thursday, then graduation Thursday night, and then we leave for our Army Yellow Ribbon event in Denver, CO. Sometime in there I'm supposed to be doing some Christmas shopping and prep our house again for the two family Christmases we are hosting for family (Christmas eve & day). Not sure when all of that is going to happen. I'm sort of hoping for another blizzard so that graduation can be postponed and our trip may be put off for a later time. Fingers crossed.

More finals today. We'll see if anything grinds my gears today. Have a great day all!

Monday, December 13, 2010

What really grinds my gears...Part II

Ok, now it's the second final exam of the semester:

About a week before the final, I give all students a short prep sheet with some general concepts/ideas they should reflect on before the test. (This is in no way a "Cheat sheet" -- just some general questions to ponder about what they learned in the course). Three students just came up to me to ask what a word on the test means. Mind you, this word was on the prep sheet AND we discussed it in class. Methinks they didn't take any time with the prep sheet at all.

What really grinds my gears...

It really grinds my gears when a student shows up an hour late to take the final and all the other students are already done. So when I could actually be leaving and going back to my office getting work done, I have to stay in the classroom a whole hour because SOMEONE decided to come an hour late!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

December is Beautiful!

December is beautiful! I love the cold grey days with the flurries swirling all around. I love that we have our new home and it's getting all cozy with holiday decorations, etc. We have 2 trees this year! Yes, I said it! Two trees! One in the family room and one in the formal living room in the front. Since we didn't put any lights up outside, we thought having a tree in the front window that could be seen from the street would look cool. Shoot -- we even took pictures. I'll post some soon. I'm at school right now, blogging while my students revise papers, otherwise I'd post some now.

Countdown to the end of the semester (not including finals): 3 days.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Lazy, lazy, lazy students!

My students are SO stinking lazy! Today in each of my 4 Writing I classes, I had on average about 6 0r 8 students out of 20 who showed up. Nice, huh? Well, the first class did good on having their early drafts of papers ready for turn-in, but slowly as the day progressed, each class had fewer and fewer students who did their homework. By the time my last class rolled around, I had 2 students who actually did their assignment. That's right....2! Granted, that gives me fewer papers to grade, but COME ON PEOPLE! I showed one students his grade -- he's at a 30% and didn't have a clue he was that low. When I pointed out that he hasn't turned in a single assignment, he didn't seem shocked that he wasn't passing. He's been there for almost every single class and so I think he thinks that if he shows up he'll still pass. Sorry dude.

I seriously wonder about these people. How do they function in everyday life? Do they really think that can make a decent living with an education for which they did not do anything? Sigh.

Is it December yet?

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Midterm and I'm pooped

I just looked at the blog and realized I haven't written anything since Week 3 of the semester. Well, here it is the start of Week 8, and I'm thinking, "Crap, where do I even start?" How about school? I've already lost several students to the imaginary plague this semester so my classes are down to about 12 in each of my Writing I classes and 18 or so in my Writing II classes. That hasn't seemed to make my work load any lighter though. The papers keep coming and piling up. I'm so far behind I don't know where to start.

For the past 3 weeks, I've had to travel to Des Moines for conferences. I also made an impromptu trip to South Bend, IN to see my friend Megan. (She lives in Cleveland, but we split the drive.) We had a great girls' weekend, shopping, hanging out with Max the dog, and checking out the Notre Dame campus. I had no idea how beautiful that place is! It was also cool to get to see Touchdown Jesus in person!

The house is coming along, but thank goodness we didn't have to do a lot when we moved in. It's a daily struggle to get things together for the week let alone get caught up on house projects. We don't dare start anything new! For a while there, Ken was at home and so took care of a lot of household things, laundry, etc. But he's back to work now, so that means we have to find a good balance of trying to get everything done. I seriously don't know how people with kids do it.

Well, I want to get some pictures posted on here of my trip to South Bend, but I have to finally get to some grading tonight. I'll try to get those on soon. Right now I'm just looking forward to a 4-day week!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Week 3 already?!

Now that Labor Day weekend is officially over, it really seems like the school year is in full swing. I am starting to collect early drafts of students' papers so the real work is under way. Pretty soon the "honeymoon" period will be over. I'm also starting to see a few students (but not too many) starting to show up to class less frequently or perhaps not at all. Now that the teachers have had to turn in the attendance numbers for students during the first 2 weeks, the students aren't as concerned about coming as they were before. I know once the financial aid checks are disbursed, the numbers in class will really drop. I can't say as I'm too sad about that as that will mean less grading for me, and as of now with 120 students, having a few less to grade would suit me just fine.

I've had a few student issues, but nothing too serious yet. I had to "get real" with one guy who decided to cop an attitude with me last Friday. He was confused about an assignment, and after I went over it 3 or 4 times in class, he was still confused and claimed that I never discussed it. That's right! I never discussed it! Hmpf! As I was helping him individually, he actually had the nerve to say to me, "Well, you never said that!" I said, "Yes I did. It's not my fault if you weren't listening." What a tool. We'll see how long that one lasts.

We spent the weekend mostly at home with a quick trip to Williamsburg and the Amanas on Saturday. Then dinner and game night with Kelly and Jeff (awesome stuffed shells there Kelly!). Sunday found us doing house projects at home. We were really happy to see friend Melissa and her husband Terry in from Solon. It was so great to catch up! Thanks for the wine you two! And thanks to Linda and family for the housewarming gift. That will work wonderfully for us to maintain our wood floors throughout the house. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family!

Monday meant school work for me and more house projects for Ken, but we did manage to sneak out and do a little furniture shopping. We found a queen-size wooden bed headboard/footboard/rails at Slumberland at an amazing price, so we bought that to go into our guest bedroom. Now we just need to get the mattress and box spring set. The piece we bought won't be delivered for two weeks, but I'm just happy because I can start to visualize that room now. It's currently pink (I'm not a fan of pink) and I'm ready to pursue other color opportunities. The only problem is that the attached bath has pink and lavender tiles so whatever I pick needs to work into that color scheme. Any ideas anyone?

Okay, I'm beat having worked on school stuff since 6:30 this morning. It's now almost 8:45 p.m. and I think it's time to call it quits. Later, all.

Monday, August 23, 2010

First Day of Classes Fall 2010

The first day of classes has come and gone. I've officially entered my 3rd year as a full-time teacher. Get this year over with, and I'll officially be off my probationary period as new faculty. This semester finds me teaching 6 classes (seems to be typical for my Fall semesters now) and serving as a faculty mentor for a new instructor in the drafting and design program. That's pretty cool I think. I'm surprised (and flattered of course) that the Teaching & Learning Center considers me worthy of being someone's mentor as I've only just completed the process of being mentored myself. It's a two-year commitment, so I guess I'm in it for the long haul.

I had 4 Writing I classes today, and I'm happy to say that none of them seems to be "the one" that every teacher dreads. Of course, it was only the first day, so we'll see what happens on Wednesday when the real work actually begins. The afternoon classes each had 4-6 students absent. Can you believe that they would miss the first day? Oh well, I'm sure several will show up on Wednesday and act surprised that classes started on Monday. My favorite was today when a student told me she wouldn't be able to attend on Wednesday (the second day of classes!) because she had to work. Imagine that! Already missing! Gee whiz. I wonder how she'll make it the rest of the semester. Oh well, not my problem I guess. Just not a very good start to the semester, I'd say.

There were a few students who looked completely clueless. I couldn't tell if they were half asleep, fully asleep, high on something, or if that was their natural appearance (I'm sorry for them if it's the latter). I do have to say that there were several who seemed good natured, smiled, spoke up in class, and seemed normal. Alas, I'm sure everyone left the class thinking that I'm weird and perhaps even a little crazy. So I try to make English fun and lively. Is that so wrong? :-)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Nap Anyone?

Today I had high hopes of accomplishing those few extra things that I really wanted to get done before returning to work the week before classes. For example, I was going to write out my first 2 weeks of lesson plans and upload all course material on the Angel site. What did I get done, you ask? Well, I went to church with Ken this morning, came home and quickly picked up the house so that my Aunt Beryl in from Chicago could see the new place, then sat down in the screened porch to read the Sunday paper but fell asleep.

Yes, fell asleep. It was lovely to doze in the fresh air. I'd cleaned the room heavily last week as it hadn't been touched since before we moved in. It was pretty dusty and had its share of dead bugs on the floor. But now it's all clean and spiffy -- a great place to take a nap. The cats were roaming around inside with me enjoying the sights and sounds of birds, so they were happy too.

When I woke up -- about 30 minutes later -- Ken was on his way to Illinois where he was going to help his sister Lisa move into her new house this week. It certainly is the summer of moving! I'll be helping out later as I have to go back to work this week. Yes, I know, poor me.

We discovered one bad thing about the house today. I should say that we actually figured this out just today. It appears that one of our air conditioning units in the house is kaput. We wondered why part of the house was so much warmer than the other part. See, our house has 2 furnaces/central air units: the one that goes to the older part of the house and the one that goes with the addition that was put on in the 50's. They are both relatively new furnaces, but the Home Inspector said that this one wasn't putting out as much cold air as the other. We gave it some time as we were settling in the house. But today, we realized that it was only blowing air, and it wasn't cold air. Ugh. Of course, this would happen right before Ken leaves. I hate this stuff, but I guess one of my jobs this week will be to call the heating/air people and get them to come out and take a look. Thank goodness this week is supposed to be much cooler than the past few.

So that's what's new here. I'm trying to be a lot better about posting. Gotta get myself back into a routine, you know. :-)

Friday, August 6, 2010

The New House

We have officially arrived in our new house. It's wonderful! It was a busy couple of days moving all the stuff out of the duplex and into the house, but thanks to many friends and family, it all came together. I don't have my pictures together yet to show it all, but am planning to do that soon as we get more of the boxes put away.

We're mostly settled in, but there are still some pesky boxes and things lying around that I have no idea what to do with. Don't you hate those things? Keep them or get rid of them? Most of the items are ending up in the basement again to be used at a future date. However, we are proud of ourselves for having gone through much of our things and given them to Ken's sister Maria so that they can try to be sold at her garage sale, the proceeds of which will go toward a new snowblower this year (keep fingers crossed we at least make a little).

It's been such a busy summer that I can hardly understand where the time went. I feel bad not keeping in better touch with friends and family, but I feel as though I've hardly been home. Once Ken came back, we bought our house within 1 week, the next day I left for the AP English Reading in Louisville, KY and was gone for 10 days, then I returned home only to start packing and then leave a few days later for our honeymoon trip to Hawaii. Again, we were gone for 22 days, and once we returned home, we had to get down to business and seriously pack up the house for the big move. I just hope we can get most of the things we need settled before I return to work in a week and a half. The craziness of the semester will set in quickly enough (especially with the 6 classes I'm teaching and my new faculty mentor role I've been asked to take on). Thank goodness Ken will be around home through October when he'll eventually have to go back to work!

More updates and pictures to come later!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Summer 2010 Adventures


Greetings All! I know it's been a long time since I posted, but a lot has happened and there is a lot to report. First and foremost, Ken arrived safely back to Iowa on Memorial Day 2010. It was a wonderful way to celebrate such a holiday. Many family and friends gathered at the Reserve Center to welcome them home. The two buses were led in by the Freedom Riders, a motorcycle group that escorts returning soldiers in to Iowa through their destination. Very cool!

Since he's been home, he's caught up on some much needed sleep and enjoyed visits with friends and family. About a week after he returned home, I had to leave for my annual AP English Language Exam reading in Louisville, KY. While there, I had a great time catching up with friends, Jan, Devon, and Suzie, Rachel and Jackie. Oh yeah, and we did actually do some work in there too. But the cool thing was getting to be someplace new, someplace I've never been to before. I went to the Muhammad Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum/Factory, and Churchill Downs to watch the races. Also, one night, some friends, including Susan K. whom I went to graduate school at UNI with, drove down to the Waverly Hills Sanitorium for a night-time ghost tour! This was so cool! The old building is huge and it was cool to be someplace that the Ghosthunters team had investigated. I highlly recommend such a toor if you're ever in the area.

One other pretty major thing happened the day before I left for Louisville: Ken and I bought a house! Yes, I did say a house! Once he returned, we knew that the time was finally right to do such a thing. The interest rates are incredibly and historically low, we could still take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit (extended for 1 year for soldiers overseas for the past year), and it was a good time to plan a move as it is summer and we could do it before school starts up for me in August and Ken returns to work at Deere sometime in the fall.

In my opinion, we found the perfect house! It's in a really good neighborhood in Waterloo, relatively close to both of our jobs, and it has all the features we wanted in a home (and then some!). It is an older home that has a lot of charm and character, built in 1940. It has 3 bedrooms, an office (with built-in bookshelves!), a formal living room with a fireplace, a screened in porch that someday we hope to turn into a 4-seasons room, a totally remodeled kitchen, a big family room, double garage, and already-landscaped and fenced-in yard. Perhaps one of the best things about it is that we don't have to do any work once we move in (aside from some painting of rooms here and there). We are not exactly the fixer-upper type, having no skills in that area. We can totally see ourselves living there for many years. Oh, and it has 2.5 bathrooms! OMG! I am so excited about that! One of them is even attached to what will become our guest room, so please come visit and stya with us really soon! I can't wait to entertain and welcome friends/family as soon as we get settled.

Now Ken and I are in Iowa City with his dad and Evelyn. His dad needed to have a procedure done to check his heart and did have to have a stent put in, so we stayed overnight. Once Ken and I arrive back in the 'Loo, we're off to look at some furniture this afternoon, then we will be enjoying time with family at the Sturgis Falls days celebration in Cedar Falls this weekend. The next few days will find us continuing to pack up the house for the move next month, and then we're off for our official honeymoon in California and Hawaii. Once we arrive home, we'll close on the house and begin the move out/move in process.

So I think it is safe to say that the summer of 2010 has proven to be a busy one, but one that will be forever memorable. As my friend Lynsey says, "Our life will be all downhill after this summer" what with all these events, trips, and projects going on. I hope she's right! I'm ready to settle down and relax.

Come visit us at the new home place soon!


Saturday, May 29, 2010

Reflections on the End: 1 Day to Go

So many of the things on my last blog entry that I said I had yet to do are done. School is done and so I'm settling into my summer routine of sleeping, cleaning, sewing, playing, gardening, and taking full advantage of the Cable I'm paying through the nose for. Tonight: 48 Hours Mystery, The OCD Project, etc. Flipping channels around mostly while I decide if I'm actually tired enough to go to bed after taking my cat nap this afternoon. Yes, the insanity of the school year is fully compensated for in May, June, and July!

Last week, my friend Lynn and I headed to Nebraska to do some work on the new house she bought out there. It was a busy week: we painted, we tore up carpet, we hauled stuff away. I never knew we could accomplish so much in 2 days! We also found time to have fun and hung out with her daughter, the grandkids, and drove into Lincoln to hit some sewing stores and score some good deals!

Since I arrived home, I've been keeping in touch with Ken about his impending arrival home in about 1 more day (Monday). He's in Indiana now taking care of final briefings and such. I'm so ready for him to be home, I can hardly stand the waiting anymore. Just to think about being able to talk to him whenever I want makes me giddy with the thought that I can actually be "married" now. A whole year of so little conversation with him has really been strange and very hard. Such an experience really puts the ole relationship thing to a test. The trust, patience, and love really get tested when you can't just pick up the phone to call each other (well, at least I couldn't) or get an immediate response to a question or issue that's going on.

As this deployment comes to an end, I absolutely must send out millions of heartfelt thanks to all my friends and family who supported me through this situation. Thank you for checking on me, making me laugh, listening to my fears/stresses, for dragging me out of the house when all I wanted to do was hide from the world, and for sending little notes/gifts of support throughout the whole time. Most of all, thank you for being there for me and understanding this situation in the best way you can. Many of you expressed your lack of familiarity with what it means to live with a spouse gone for so long and in such a scary place where the future is uncertain, and while you shared that you didn't know what I was feeling, you also did the best thing possible for me: you were always there when I needed you and more importantly, when I didn't know I needed you. You are all wonderful, and I'm a blessed person to have you in my life. I only hope that I can be as good of a friend to you as you have been to me.

For the first time in a long time, I feel good about things to come. While in Nebraska, I got a call from Ken that said he was back in the States. It took a full day for that to sink in. He was almost home. He was safe. He was on the same continent! I could actually call him on his cell phone. The next day as I was tearing up carpet and tack strips at Lynn's house, I suddenly stopped and said quietly to myself, "It's almost over. It's almost over." After a year of worrying and feeling sad, overwhelmed, worried, lonely, guilty for being here while he isn't, I finally let myself release some of those feelings. I'm hopeful that this next stage in our lives is all that we dreamed it would be.

Welcome Home Kenny!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

COUNTDOWN!

Finally, it's all coming together. Here is the countdown:

4 - Weeks until Ken comes home.

3 - Days left in the semester.

2 - Sets of portfolios left to grade.

1 - Trip to Nebraska to make to help a friend move.

0 - Energy left.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

I Just Needed a Break!

Today was a day very much unlike me. I arrived to my office at 6:15, as usual to hurriedly finish the last few papers I needed to grade before my 8:00 a.m. class. By 6:45, I knew I'd had it. I couldn't touch another student paper. My head started hurting, my stomach got queasy, and all I could think of was going home and going back to bed. You must understand, that this was not an easy decision for me. You're looking at the blog of a girl who missed 1 day of high school in 4 years and that was because my car wouldn't start one winter morning....yes, I am that big of a dork. It's hard for me to not be at work unless something is physically wrong with me or I am on death's door. The only day I missed at my previous job was because I threw my back out. I was back by the next day though I was in a lot of pain, and though I hated the job anyway, I was there.

Back to this morning. I just couldn't do it. After a week of dealing with student who hates me (who, by the way, decided that she would complain to my dept chair about me yesterday and who decided she will come back to my class after all even though I'm a terrible person and she can't learn anything from me), grading papers non-stop because portfolios are due just around the corner, and all the other daily stuff I've been feeling and dealing with, I just couldn't take it anymore. And so, yes, I went home! I left messages for the dept. secretary and my dept. chair telling them I was here but was going home ill. I asked them to put notes on my door for students, and that was it. I was out of there!

By the time I got home, it was roughly 7:10 a.m. I put on my pajamas and crawled back to bed. The next thing I know it's 12:30 pm and I have two cats in bed with me. Very cozy! I pulled myself out of bed, had a little soup, and tried to grade some papers. After two hours of being awake, my head started pounding and I went back to bed. So, from 2:30-5:30 I slept again. I think it was the whole psychological thing of grading papers and thinking about students.

Now, it's 10:00 p.m. I suppose I should go to bed so that I can go to work tomorrow and finish out the week. I still have 15 papers yet to grade sometime tomorrow as there may be students coming to get them. Yet, after today's events, I'm left wondering, "what's wrong with me?" Am I fighting something? Am I just exhausted? I love my job, so why am I so fatigued just thinking about going back there right now? I suppose I'm just exhausted, but that's not good considering that there is still about a week left in the semester. I don't know how I'm going to do it. All I want to do is go to bed and pretend that this semester is over. Perhaps I shall go to bed now and dream of the day my finals are turned in and summer officially begins.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Weekly Update

I just wrote Ken an email updating him on the state of things at home. Thinking that it also sounded like a good blog post, I decided to include most of it here for my 1-2 readers. :-) Note: Content has been edited for nature of blog and interest of readers...

Well, it was another interesting week as the live-alone wife of a soldier deployed to a foreign country in a time of war. Playing homemaker, working woman, and caregiver to three cats is certainly time consuming. Things at home are fine though sometimes things get hectic with trying to keep the house decently picked up, mowing the lawn, getting the garbage out, and remembering to pay bills and get the rent paid. Often I have the house picked up on the weekend, and by Wednesday it looks like crap:dishes in the sink, empty water bottles on the counter, hair care products in the bathroom and cat hair rolling around the house like little tumbleweeds. By Friday night, I can hardly stand it and so I take what was once "Date Night" and use it to scrub the place down. Very romantic and exciting, eh? That's what I did this Friday night. I was so disgusted by the state of the house that after vacuuming the whole place, I brought up the carpet cleaner and did the bedrooms and hallway (wood floor in rest of house). Much needed! I also gave the bathroom a good scrub down by doing the toilet, tub, floor, and sink. I even put a new plastic shower curtain in. Wow! My first shower in that baby was like staying in a luxury hotel! By the end of the night while the dishwasher was swirling away, I had time to do a little sewing in my clean little house and went to bed in crisp clean sheets. Heaven!

Work is work. I went in a t 6:00 a.m. every day to get some work done. I can get more done in the morning anyway. Even now, it's 8:28 p.m., and I'm ready for bed! I was very productive though in the mornings and felt pretty good by the end of the week in terms of all that I accomplished. Sadly, I'm behind now again as I received a batch of papers on Friday that I didn't touch all weekend. I am going to be revising our course curricula this coming year though, changing our current system of only 2 developmental writing classes to 3! Yeah, in one of my freer moments, I came up with this brilliant plan which will ultimately make more work for myself. Real smart, huh?

The infamous writing student who has hated me all semester now hates me even more than ever. How can that be, you ask? Well, she received another failing grade on her 4th paper and once again blamed her bad grade on the fact that she believes I don't like her. Well of course I don't like her! How can I like her after all the crap she's pulled this semester? Still, she is graded in the same manner as all the other students, using the same grade sheet, scoring with revision comments, and the most objective system possible I use for all students. This time I even had another writing teacher read her paper too to get those comments and to make sure that I wasn't subconsciously grading her down. That teacher said she would have graded her worse than I did! I felt vindicated! Anyway, this student informed me on Friday that she won't be coming to my class anymore for the rest of the semester (2 weeks left) because she doesn't like me and because I'm not fair. Fine by me. One less thing to worry about.

I've also been taking on several textbook reviews lately too. Two for Pearson books and one for Cengage. I just received an email asking me to do another one for Cengage, so I'm excited! The money is most decent and definitely worth the time. I'm thinking....Vacation Money!!! Hawaii, Niagra Falls, Yellowstone, Rhode Island, here we come! (Rhode Island = Warwick, RI home of the TAPS team from Ghosthunters.)

Anyway, the cats are good. Little Miss Girl Cat (still working on a new name) is bossing the boys around and chasing Artemus all over the house. It's quite funny to watch. Not much else new on that front except that I'm sick to death of people calling me a crazy cat lady! I finally started telling people that if I had 3 children, no one would say such a thing and call me the "crazy child woman," so why do that when I have cats?! I hate the double standard for pet people vs child-bearing folk. Now, I'm leaning more and more to the child-free lifestyle just to make a point.

Okay, I think I better go to bed now. I'm going in at 6 a.m. to get work done, then teach 9-11 and 1-2, and then have my teaching class from 3-5 (ugh) tomorrow afternoon. In that, I have to give a presentation on what I do in the classroom to attend to multiple literacies and learning styles (BORING!). I had to write that paper tonight. Normally, the old me would have had that done weeks ago, but the new overly busy me has learned to not freak out and be so OCD about such things. Doing projects, writing reviews, and grading papers is happening at the last minute. Who knew I could do such a thing!

The semester is almost over. The official countdown to my Kenny coming home may now begin!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

It's a Girl!

Meet Miss Holly, our new little girl kitty. Miss Holly joined our home a week ago. Her former owner had to go live in a nursing home and was unable to care for her anymore, and so Miss Holly needed a new home and came to live with us. Her owner was the mother of a family member in Ken's army group, and since we've gotten to know each other through this deployment, I knew about the owner's situation and offered to take Miss Holly in. She came with the name Holly, and since I have a friend named Holly, I'm still working on what to call the cat. Miss Holly seems to be the best fit so far since she does know and respond to her name ( I don't think I could change it on her.)

It was an interested first week as Miss Holly, Tucker, and Artemus adjusted to one another. The first week was filled with hissing, growling and swatting, mostly by Tucker and Artemus. Miss Holly just stayed away from the boys, for the most part, but she really had no fear from them and was perfectly happy wandering around all parts of the house and staking out her new territory. She's extremely cuddly and is on my lap almost before I can sit down. She follows me around and is seeming to get closer to the other two. I think it's a matter of time before I find them cuddled up together on the couch.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Happy Anniversary to Me

One year married. I spent my first wedding anniversary in Illinois with my sis-in-law Lisa. We had a girls' weekend shopping and dining in the suburbs of Illinois. It was a lovely trip and we had so many laughs. Seriously, both of our faces hurt by the last day from laughing and smiling so much. It was a wonderful trip and a much-needed pick-me-up. Maybe this will become my anniversary tradition? I suppose I could include Ken in the plans; after all, we did miss him and Matt carrying our shopping bags back to the car during our shopping extravaganza.

I would like to thank everyone for their lovely anniversary cards and gifts: Terry and Melissa, Lynsey and Jeremy, Cletus and Evelyn, Katie and Ben, Klein family, and Jim and Sharon. You all made me so happy! I never remember anyone's anniversary, so the thought that you all remembered me made my day extra special.

Spring break is almost over, and after a week of beautiful 60-degree weather, it's snowing outside. SNOWING! Okay, so you know I like snow, but this is ridiculous. I was outside in my bare feet yesterday and now I'm wrapped in a blanket shivering in the house. (I refuse to turn the heat up!)

Over break, I managed to complete my very first quilt! Will post pictures soon. I'm super excited to say that I'm an official quilter now. I can't wait to begin my next one, but that will probably have to wait until the semester's over.

Here's one picture that is from home. Here is my cat Artemus in my bed. This is what happens when I try to make the bed and one cat in particular is not ready to get up. Solution: Make the bed around him and leave it at that.


And here is a closeup:

Sunday, February 28, 2010

4 Months in a Nutshell

Well, here I am. After far too long of not posting, I've made it back. I've been fine, really, so I apologize to any readers (if there are actually any of you out there) for not posting since October. Midterm is always terrible for me, and apparently it was so bad last year that I didn't find time to post again until this semester's midterm!

Here is my quickie catch-up for the past 4 months. Warning! November and December are rather depressing. Read with wine and anti-depressants nearby.

November:
I kept busy with school, grading, students, etc. I dreaded the thought of Thanksgiving without Ken here and me having to do family rounds without him. As a result, I went into major hiding from the week before Thanksgiving until January 1. I basically just didn't want to deal with the holidays and since the major ones start in November, I was almost inaccessible for two months. Another reason for not posting much since then. Work and helping my friend Lynn with house remodeling projects was about all I could manage.

December:
December was worse than November with all the wonderful snow and holiday spirit being thrown around by all. I just couldn't get into it all and didn't even want to try. Once the semester was over and final grades were turned in, I resumed being in hiding for the majority of break. This was a really tough time for me. Trying to deal with Christmas without Ken was a nightmare, and though friends and family tried to reach out for support, it was difficult for me to accept help. I decided that if I ever have to spend any future winter holidays without Ken, I am going far far far away from home. It's too hard to deal with the memories and loneliness at home. I don't know how others manage to do it after a spouse is gone. The best thing about Christmas was when Ken Skyped me from overseas on Xmas. I was able to see him for the first time in about 6 months, and I got to watch him open the box of presents I sent him. That was the best gift I could have ever received. Seriously, I'm getting teary now just remembering it. It was one of the brightest spots in several weeks of feeling terribly sad.

January:
Once the last family Christmas gathering was done, I felt an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders. I awoke that day with renewed energy and a sense of being ok. I've never felt such a sense of exhaustion being swept away. Amazing what a calendar change can do to a person. Though school was about to start again, I had Ken's two-week leave visit to look forward to. He was home and we had a wonderful time together. It was just like before he left, wonderful. We spent time at home, with family, and then traveled to Wisconsin to see friends. We also took a trip to Branson to get away. The time went by far too quickly, and before we knew it, he had to return.

February:
Thank goodness for short months. I've been keeping busy with work, sewing, and knitting. The last two are my two hobbies that I picked up at the start of this year. So far, I'm loving them, and am working on quilting, which is something I've wanted to learn how to do for a very long time. It's a slow-going process when there is so much other work to do on the weekends, but I've been trying to make time for myself.

March...?
March begins tomorrow. Only 2 weeks left until Spring Break. Boy, am I ready for it. I'm feeling better, but have reached the point where I just want this deployment to be over. I need life to get back to "normal" or at least for us to figure out what "normal" actually means. For starters, I'll try to be better about posting. :-)