Holiday Eating Tips - For The Sane

From Joke of the Day

I hate aspects of this time of year. Not for its crass commercialism and forced frivolity, but because it's the season when the food police come out with their wagging fingers and annual tips on how to get through the holidays without gaining 10 pounds.

1. About those carrot sticks. Avoid them. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnogaholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello? Remember college?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. You can't leave them behind. You're not going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards, mate.

10. And one final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips. Start over. But hurry! Cookieless January is just around the corner

Happy Birthday Kiki

It's been one year since a little, wet, bedraggled puppy joined our home. Jordan and I have had so much fun over the past year with this crazy mutt. We decided that, since we don't actually know when she was born or exactly how old she was, the day she showed up at our house was her first birthday so, today is her second birthday. And we're so glad she's a part of our home (even when we have to take her out three times a day in the cold, and even when she chews up some toys or clothes, and even when she eats the wrong things and gets sick...)

From chariots to space shuttles

I found this post very interesting. Check it out.

Camp Gilead

It's much later than I planned to go to bed, but I'm still up and I blame Dan Brown. Dan was a counselor with me at Camp Gilead back in 1992, the year I graduated high school. I recently got in contact with him through facebook (and found out he's the new pastor at Lifegate, my dad's old church). Anyway, he posted about 16 pictures from our time in Camp Gilead, which was really fun to look through. Then I found Matthew Moyer's facebook with about 400 pictures from the 60's to the present. I recognized some of the people - after all, I went to the camp from the time I was in 3rd grade. I also reminisched a bit after seeing Pop's Inn, the chapel in the hill, the bunnies, the donkeys... This summer I'm going overseas with some students at my school, and I'm going to try to find a camp that Jordan can go to. It may not be Gilead, but every kid deserves the chance to enjoy camp.
BTW, apparently in the 60's there was a segregated camp. There are couple pictures of a group of all African-American girls with white counselors. Very interesting I thought.

CHAPTER 4 IS DONE!!!!!

Sad Day

My wonderful new phone is no longer with us. It took a dive into the toilet, and struggled for life for a while, but eventually gave up the ghost. Because of this, if you've tried to call me on that number, I haven't answered. If you left a message, I haven't responded. I also am unable to call you if you don't live in my town, because I used the cell phone for long distance calls. I'm going to the Verizon store tomorrow to see if it can be resuscitated, but am not holding out much hope. Guess it's back to the old phone once again.

Saturday plans up in smoke

Jordan and I were going to go to the beach today. I had it all planned out to do computer work in the morning, then print out some stuff to work on at the beach while Jordan played in the waves. Unfortunately, the same Santa Ana winds that made it warm at the beach started some fires pretty close to here. We got to Corona and saw a huge tower of smoke ahead of us and the traffic was way slow, so we turned around (and passed Corona fire trucks rushing on to help) and went back home where I napped and Jordan did crafts. I did get some more work done today, and I think we'll go to the library tomorrow so I can get the rest of my work done. I'm sending something to my adviser on Wednesday. No really, I am!

Christmas?

Last week the brakes went out on my car and we had to go in after school and get them fixed. Fortunately, the shop is across from the mall, so Jordan and I had fun exploring, drinking Starbucks, and coming up with a Christmas list. I put all the ideas she came up with in my handy dandy new phone and will now share them with you (and yes, I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but the list is made, so deal with it).

Books: Tink, North of Neverland; Skippy Jon Jones; pireateology, dragonology, monsterology, mythology
White comfy sweater, girls size medium or 12
Green scarf
White boots - we went to Payless Shoe Source and they had some she liked there, women's size 8
Cute hat - most any style is okay, just keep away from the color pink
Penguin mugs - from Bath and Body Works
Backback - green with flowers or skull and crossbones
Jeans - size 12
My Girl Gourmet - saw in a Target ad
Megablock Magnext - also in Target ad
Volleyball
High School Musical 3 dolls
Smart Folding Easel - the brand name, from Target or Toys R Us, I can't remember
Knex doubledare dueling coaster
Barbie dolls with clothes
Moon sand (this is a brand name of something)
Ski pants
Ski coat

BIG THINGS
Digital camera
Computer
Cell Phone

Challenges

My job, like most, has its ups and downs, its problems and benefits. One of the challenges that I face is the nature of the speeches that I assign. Students talk about a life-changing moment in their lives and about social or political problems they care about. This leads to some interesting speeches, some funny speeches, and some speeches where students really open up and share their lives. I've had a speech about rape from a girl who told us she was a victim of rape and her son was the product of that assault. I had a boy tell us of a time he accidentally killed another kid at a wrestling match. This semester, I have a student who is speaking on sexual assault which she recently has dealt with. She came to me and told me that she thought that it would be an easy topic for her since it's something she cares about, but, although she tightly controls her emotions, it obviously still bothers her. This is a great thing, but it is also tough for me as sympathizing with others is not one of my strong points. It's hard for me to know what to say and how to help, but I mostly just listen and hope that's enough.
I also, sometimes, have students who tell me about personal problems they are dealing with - usually as a plea for more time or grace on assignments. I've had a student tell me about mental problems he was dealing with (this I couldn't help with, and advised he talk to the counselors). This semester I've had a student talk to me about her relationship issues and confusion about what her life's purpose is. This week I had a student come talk to me because in the last two weeks her husband left her for another woman and left her to pay for an apartment on her own. She is doing school, two jobs, and athletics along with dealing with the pain of this betrayal. Again, I didn't feel like I could do much more than listen to her and offer her my help in the class itself and a friendly and nonjudgmental ear.
One thing I have heard twice in the past week is that many times a person who is going through a tragedy ends up comforting their friends and family. The people come to offer sympathy, but end up expressing their own pain and hurt and the victim feels the need to comfort them and tell them it's all okay. Hopefully, coming to me as a person uninvolved and not emotionally attached to the situation allows them some comfort. All I can say is that I hope I get better at this than I am right now.

Weekend Update with Ms. B

Well, I'm finally done with student meetings and have gotten over the flu that afflicted J and I at the same time. The nieces and nephew are coming over today so I'm sure I can get some more work done - they pretty much entertain each other without any need for me. I have already gotten 1 hour under my belt and hope to get at least 5 more in. I'm watching football, too. I study better with something that can draw my attention when I need a brain break but that won't draw my attention so much that I never get back to work - which is why football is perfect!

Updates

I haven't gotten in any real work on the diss for a while. The students have been taking up most of my time and energy but today was the last student-intensive day so I can get back to it. Also, my adviser wrote to me today. Yeah! We've got a new plan together and so things can get done. So tomorrow I'll teach for half the day and then maybe get work done, but Wednesday is definitely happening.
Also, we head to Sea World for Jordan's b-day on Sunday. She is going to swim with the dolphins for her b-day present and is pretty excited now that it is getting close. Eric and co will meet us there so there will be a "party" as well. She wanted to have a party with a bunch of kids and all that, but I vetoed that plan. I need a break from loud, demanding, needy children!

None Yesterday, None today

It's crazy student meetings week. Once a semester I meet with each and every public speaking student I have to make sure their speeches come out as good as possible. In the last 3 days I have graded about 130 homework assignments and so far had 12 meetings. Then later today I have a meeting with the credentialing body for the university which I have to prepare (?) for.
It's exhausting. I'm exhausted.
On a more positive note, Jordan has been in an excellent mood the last 24 hours. She has been cheerful and helpful and apologetic if she does something wrong. Last night I came out of my room to find her working out in the living room while watching TV. She told me, very cheerfully, that someone at school had called her fat and then someone else suggested she exercise more. I quickly made sure she understood that, while exercising is definitely good, she is definitely not fat. She cheerfully agreed and then on to show me some exercises she invented and asked for tips about others she was trying out. It made me - the slob slouching on the couch watching her - feel a bit guilty and lazy. It did not make me exercise. That's what the morning and afternoon bike rides are for!

2 Hours today

Getting back into it

Hours worked - 2
The current goal is to get something incredible done by the 17th, when my professor returns from her out-of-country trip. I'm feeling inspired people!!!

Weekend Update

Yesterdays hours: 0
Todays hours: .75
Other activities: swimming lessons, farmer's market, culture day downtown, Outback Steakhouse (reward for reading 20 books since school started), Water Polo game (CBU won 10/3), home for pizza and "Annie Get Your Gun."
:)

The Inevitable Emergency

Well, I was about 2 hours into working on the diss when the emergency I was sure wouldn't happen happened. I should have known not to write that - tempting fate and all that... Okay I don't really believe in fate but I'm frustrated beyond all measure.
I may have mentioned previously that my adviser has been unresponsive (no contact for the past 5 months). Well, I sent her some updated chapters today and received an out of office reply stating she won't be back until the 17th.
I decided to be a bit proactive and send the chapters to other people on my committee to see what they thought. As I went through the list of professors at my schools website, I discovered that one of them was missing. I did a google search of his name and discovered he is no longer at the university. No one bothered to tell me that a member of my committee is gone. My adviser didn't bother to tell me she's leaving the country (or anything else for that matter). I had to go to one of my friends to confirm it all.
So now I'm stuck with one member gone, one ignoring me, and two who don't really do the same kinds of things I do.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, Exercise

Yesterday didn't do any work on the diss but I have 5 hours planned out today and barring some unforeseen emergency should get another draft to my adviser today.
On another note, for the past two or so weeks Jordan has been unable to take the bus to school. Now that she's in 4th grade she apparently doesn't need it. So not only does this mean driving her to school, but also means I miss my morning workout 3 of 5 workdays. Since I've only been working out again for about a month, this severely limits my progress. Today that all changed, though.
When I lived in PA I used to bike to school pretty much every day. I didn't consider this a workout since it was transportation and tended to be quicker than driving or taking the bus. When I moved to CA, work is down very steep hills and 7 miles instead of 2 and so biking isn't an option. As a result, the pants are fitting a little more snugly. So, I decided that biking with Jordan to school would be a great option - saves gas, adds exercise for both of us. We have biked places before - church, Baskin Robbins - but right before this change occurred I discovered that our bikes had a combined one flat tire, two disconnected brakes and one faulty brake. So I got help from my brother with one problem and went to the bike shop for the other. The bikes got finished yesterday and today we were off. It was a bit dicy at first - I bought a rack for the back of J's bike to hold her book bag, but getting the adjustment of the bike seat didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Once we got going at 7:42 we had a couple minor incidents, no falls but some skids. We had only one small hill to go up, the hills are on the way back from school. So we made it the 2 miles at 8:06. After getting her situated I returned and got back by 8:22. Admittedly the exercise was much more intense on the return trip, but if I meet her at school for the ride back today that's one hour and 20 minutes of bike riding and about 30 minutes of intense, sweat-producing exercise. Plus I still have time to shower and get to school in the morning in time for my 9:30 classes. Since rain won't be a factor for a couple months :) I'm pretty pleased with the outlook.
Okay, now on to my 5 hours of work...

Update

3 hours yesterday and today is not yet over...

Weekend

Only one hour worked on the dissertation this weekend. Had lots of fun with J, we cleaned the house and decorate for Halloween yesterday. Today we went to church and hung out with her friend. We started going to a wonderful new church last month. It is brand new and still small, but the people there are amazing and friendly and fun. I've had more social activity in the last month and a half than I did the year prior. Jordan loves it, too, and made a new friend. She's been trying to get this friend, Keely, over to our house for a while and today it finally worked out. Jordan and Keely are peas in a pod as they say. They both are hysterical. They are hyper. They love to do crafty things (today they made a house for a wild neighborhood cat, a bird house, and a halloween costume for Kiki). They spent 5-6 hours together today without arguing and fighting. It's so good to see her excited about her days and excited to go to church. Last year she just wanted to hang with me at church, now I barely see her as soon as the car door opens. And I'm fine with that.

Hours Worked on Dissertation - 3

Hours Worked on Dissertation - 0

But on a more positive note, I just got a new phone with more battery life, more accessories, and more classy good looks than my 4 year old phone. And it's now all programmed and ready to go.

Work in Progress

My mother suggested that I update you all daily on how many hours I worked on my dissertation - a way to keep myself accountable. I'm not sure I'm willing to do that, because then it keeps me accountable. It also adds to the guilt factor that's never far from my thoughts. For example, today I didn't have to teach so theoretically had the whole day to work on the paper. Instead, I graded (a positive thing), had a meeting at school in which a crisis occurred which will also take up a majority of my time on Friday (not positive, but a good use of time), spent time with Jordan after school (positive), watched a TV show (not positive), and then tonight I'll watch the finale of America's got talent (I'm rooting for Nuttin but Stringz or Eli whats-his-name) while finishing my grading (half positive, half not).
The thing about working on an extended project of any kind, and the problem with being in school in general, is that you're never done with anything. There is no coming home at the end of the day and forgetting what happened at work, because work leaks into all aspects of your life. When you're a single parent, too (yeah, I had to add that loaded term as a get-out-of-guilt-free card) you have to balance the importance of finishing up the neverending project with just hanging out being goofy. So, I will try for the month of October to keep a running total of hours worked, but I will refuse to allow myself to apologize for hours not worked. I know in my heart whether I have a valid excuse for not working and guilt only ways you down, it doesn't perk you up.
That's the plan, thanks for reading this far if you did, and send positive thoughts and prayers my way... my thesis advisor hasn't talked to me in 5 months so let's hope the work I am doing is not all for nothing.

October 1 - hours worked on dissertation - zero

Working

I have always wanted to have a little neighborhood cafe to work in. A place within walking distance of my home that I could bring grading or research and work in. I had a professor at Oregon State (who just beat USC by the way - wahoo!) who used to do her work in a bar. The bar owners called her the smart girl and bought a lamp for a table just for her. While I'm not interested in working in a bar (and think my school might discourage it as well...) I like the idea of that kind of neighborhood relationship.
Well, as I'm writing this I'm working in my neighborhood cafe. I've been here three hours and already seen several people I know. Right now outside the window one of the workers here is telling a story to about 20 kids - she sang with them before that. While this is great for business for the cafe, it also creates a great community feeling. I'm loving it.
And now I'm back to work again - 3 hours so far today.

The Champ

For the past several months, Jordan has become obsessed with learning to dive. In July she took swimming lessons and watched some really good divers practicing and was entranced. Unfortunately, she was terrified of actually going headfirst into the water and wouldn't try. Since I have never dived a single time in my life, I was completely unable to give her any suggestions or reassurances. She spent 3 weeks with my family up north and in that time, she got a little closer. Megan took her to a pool and she got on the diving board and tried a couple times, but then she psyched herself out and wouldn't try again. In the beginning of this month she started swimming again and now she had a swim instructor teaching her how to dive. She started squatting down and getting in headfirst and did all right. On Thursday of last week her teacher stayed late to give her more instruction in how to improve her technique and by the 12th or 15th dive Jordan was getting really good at it. On Tuesday all the previous weeks confidence disappeared and she stood at the pools edge without being able to get herself to jump in. So yesterday the teacher just kind of shoved her in the water the first couple times. A risky move, since it could have backfired, but thankfully, Jordan got more confidence, and by the end of the day, she was jumping and diving into the water with very good form (says the completely inexpert and biased mama). After she had jumped and dived a couple times she came over to me and whispered, "do you think I could be in the Olympics?"
What can a mom say but, "of course!"

Hours Worked on Dissertation - 2

Confession is good for the soul and the motivation

Homework

Jordan got a bit behind in homework this past week, so I'm having her make it up by finishing a book report this weekend. Yesterday she finished reading the book so today she had to write up the report. After lunch I told her she couldn't watch TV, play with friends, or go to a movie until she finished writing the paper. She chose to read a book instead. Her friend came over to ask her to play which gave her a little motivation and she worked on it a little but chose to go back to reading the book. After a while she came out to the living room to complain that she didn't want to write but I told her just to do it and it would be finished and she wouldn't have to worry about it again. She went back and got all but one thing done. I stopped by her room and saw her laying on the floor whining that it was all just too hard. I told her that all the time she was wasting not doing it was time she could have spent with friends or going to a movie. A minute ago she stopped by my room excited and said, "I just started writing and look at how much I got done, then went back into her room and is currently finishing it up."

Of course all this took place as I was reading my own book avoiding writing my own paper. I'm such a hypocrite!

A New Year

Last year was not a good year for Jordan. Moving to a new town is always difficult, and she felt the brunt of it, I'm afraid. Academics are difficult for her and so she struggled in that area. She usually makes friends pretty easily, but the friend she did find moved away partway through the year and many of the other kids had already established friendships so by March it was pretty miserable - her not wanting to go to school and me trying to convince her that she should go (and in the end forcing her when she didn't buy my arguments). At the beginning of this year she was convinced it was going to be more of the same, but thankfully it has not been. At first she was teased a bit about her clothing. We don't spend a lot of money on clothes and, besides that, she isn't the most style-conscious child. We did a bit of shopping and discussing clothing options and so that part has gotten better. Additionally, she has a new "best friend" and so her life is a lot happier. Add to that that she's back in swimming lessons (being involved in sports is important for more than just the exercise) and 4th grade is looking a lot better. Her academic progress is even looking up. Her grades thus far are significantly better than last years and we'll hope they stay that way. A happy and proud Jordan is much better than a disappointed or depressed Jordan any day of the week.

Audrey

Yesterday I was coming down after a long day of teaching (I'm working on how to avoid getting massive debilitating headaches - today so far, so good) and watching Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn. My lovely sister gave me three Hepburn movies (she's my favorite - both sister and actress) for my birthday and I've just gotten around to watching the last of the three. I had heard that Hepburn did not consider herself beautiful and thought she was too thin, had strange facial features, and had feet that were too big. In the beginning of the movie, I noticed those feet and man were they huge. So now I'm feeling a little better about my own Sasquatch. After all, if Audrey Hepburn could rock the big feet, J should have no trouble at all. And by the way, she has no trouble with her foot size, she's actually pretty proud of it. So this is (probably) the last foot related post.
As for me, I'm looking forward to getting some major diss work done this weekend. Just hoping I hear something from my adviser - who is ignoring me again - sometime soon.

Fundraiser

Jordan's school is having a fundraiser and unfortunately we don't know a lot of people around here to sell, too. The fundraiser does have an online feature however, so if you're interested in checking out what they have you can shop online at

http://www.westcoastfundraising.com/store/brochures.php?sID=ken4138

The group receives profit from the sale and the seller will receive prize credits. Enter the seller ID below to begin.

Seller: Jordan Guzman
Seller ID: ken4138

Thank you for your support.

If the link above does not work, please use the following link and enter the seller ID: http://www.westcoastfundraising.com/store/index.php

I started school yesterday. I have three classes on Tuesday and Thursday back to back which means I'm teaching from 9:30 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. I know, I know, it's not a 9-5 job, but it's pretty exhausting teaching for 4.5 hours. Also, it's exactly the same class, so I'm a bit goofy by the time the last class gets around. Saying almost exactly the same thing over and over affects the brain. I am excited to be back again, though. I think I have some great students and I've added some new elements this year to add more about faith and Jesus' own public speaking which will be interesting.
Jordan started swimming lessons again this month, too. This time she's going to the Y and the first day she was the only student so she got to direct the class a bit. The second day she did have one other classmate, but still it's very personal attention and so she gets more specific tips about how to improve her swimming and more opportunities to swim. She's working more on diving and did a pretty good kneeling dive - it didn't even hurt which is her main problem with diving.

Sasquatch

Jordan starts school tomorrow. She's pretty nervous because last year was a difficult one for her and she is worried the teacher will be mean and she won't have any friends. Last year she made a really good friend at the beginning of the year, but that friend left halfway through the school year and she never really found another one. She has trouble looking at the positive potential of the future, but we're working on that :) She has her new outfit all laid out with her new book bag and everything, so that has kind of helped her have something to look forward to.
On a somewhat not really related note, I may have mentioned previously that Jordan has larger than average feet. This time last year I think I was buying her women's size 4-5 shoes and was astounded that a then 8 year old was wearing women's sizes. Her feet have grown exponentially since then and earlier this week I bought her a new pair of sandals because her feet were over the edge of her old ones. The new sandals were size 7. We got home and when I saw her try them on (I wasn't paying close attention at the store apparently) I realized they were too small for her - her feet reached the end on both sides. We then decided to compare feet sizes and I realized that she and I now have the same size feet. Jordan wears women's size 8. How can she still be my little girl when she's starting to get so big???

Masculinity

One thing I find fascinating about Korean culture is the masculinity issue. The men in Korea are definitely dominant - woman are sometimes seen walking 5 steps behind their husband down the street. I heard a story from a guy at one of our camps that when his wife was talking with a Korean pastor's wife, she said that wives in the U.S. have heavenly marriages while in Korea it is hell. I'm sure that is not the true with all people and the younger generation seems to be making some changes, but it is true to an extent. Korean men and boys are also very violent. We had the students write about something they would change about their families and it broke my heart how often I saw writing about how cold the parents, especially fathers, were and how they wished they wouldn't get hit - which probably means spankings, but still hard for a non-corporal punishment pacifist like me to read. In the classes themselves, violence cropped up in an organized way. Whenever the kids would play a game, the Korean helpers would quite naturally propose a "punishment" for the losers. So we'd play a word game and the losing team would get hit on the head, slapped on the arm, or a particularly violent punishment in which the boy being punished (this rarely was done for the girls) would crouch down on hands and knees and then the punisher would pound on the back with both hands several times and then slam into the back of the other kid with his elbow.
This is not meant to totally disparage Koreans. There are many wonderful things about Korean people and they did not require punishments (none happened in my class) but it was interesting for me because while these things showed an overabundance of testosterone, there was a much gentler side as well. It was very normal for boys to touch each other, not just patting the back or slapping a shoulder, but putting arms around each other, patting each other gently on the head or face, even holding hands while walking. Boys who one minute were leaving handprints on their friends the next minute were standing almost cheek to cheek.
The two extremes are just interesting for someone who is used to men being closer to the middle. Not as much violence, but not as much closeness either.

I'm Ba-ack

Well, I returned to the ol' USA on Saturday and it's back to the grind already. I have faculty stuff going on tomorrow so tonight J and I will go to Sea World for one last fling of summer. Korea was pretty great. It was cool meeting the kids there and teaching them. The first two weeks we were at an English camp and I had a group of 16 kids, 10 of which were cool junior high boys - a group that I get along very well with. Junior high boys know how to have fun, joke around, and laugh but they aren't clingy and trying to hold hands like the younger kids and girls do. I still find it strange to hold hands with anyone but Jordan, but I sucked it up a couple times.
Our team did pretty well during the 3 weeks stuck together, especially since none of us really knew anyone else before we were thrown together. We did have some major blow-outs, though, which everyone handled very maturely and we managed not to kill each other. We only really got to experience Korea for 4 days of the trip, since the rest of the time we were working, but it was fun to see the countryside and contrast that with the city of Seoul.
One strange thing happened just a little while ago. I signed up on Facebook this summer when my friend Jodi "invited" me. I don't go on it very often and very rarely spend any time looking around, but J is out for the moment and I don't feel like being productive right now, so I was looking at all my facebook friends and learned that one of them passed away last week. She was a girl I went to church with in PA and I didn't know her too well, but did hang out with her periodically while I lived there. It's extremely strange to discover that someone has died on the computer. Under normal circumstances, I suppose I would never have learned about it, since I didn't keep in contact with her after I left PA, but to read casually that one friend is shopping for school supplies, another is drinking Starbucks, and another's family is sad to say she passed away - I'm not sure how to process that.
Anyway, enough darkness for now. Hope all your days are sunny and bright!

Ready and Willing

Well, the dog and cat are now in the hands of 3 very attentive children and so I'm completely ready to go. Well, actually I still need to pack, but then I'll be ready to go. Here is a picture of me and most of my team.
In the back row we have:
Natalie - she graduated this year, is a natural leader, and has never been overseas.
Beca - finished her first year of college, recently became on fire for God, is seeking whether her chosen major is right for her.
Megan - never been overseas and is a little socially awkward (potential to rub other teammates the wrong way)
Becky - my co-leader who just graduated and is thinking about joining the peace corp (or maybe a missions organization?) next year. She is willing to help lead, but not unless asked.
Front row:
Rachel - shy, never been out of the US except for Mexico
Me - !
Deanna - in Korea right now so we haven't seen her since school ended, her mom and brother moved there this past year and are putting pressure on her to join them even though she feels the US is her home, another natural leader.
Not shown:
Corrie - getting married this year, wanted to go with her husband on a two-year missions trip starting in 2009, but now talking about going back to school, another natural leader!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If you want to check in on how we're doing, the office will post updates every 3-5 days at this website: http://www.calbaptist.edu/spiritual-life/international-service-projects/default2.aspx?id=7376.
If you'd like to read about other trips our school has done, check out this website and click on any country: http://www.calbaptist.edu/spiritual-life/international-service-projects/intservproj.aspx

2 to go

Got Jordan off to Oregon successfully today. She had a slight fever today, but what was I going to do? I pumped her full of Motrin and shipped her off. I did throw up this morning though after eating my breakfast of toaster waffles. And I leave in two days. And I can't get sick. sigh.

Korea - 4 days and counting

The days are coming closer and closer to heading on a 16-hour flight to the land of kim-chi. Out job got slightly changed at the end of April, in fact, the university that was going to sponsor our visit backed out and told us they didn't want us to come after all. This of course was slightly stressful but we have a great office of people to deal with these kinds of issues and I knew that if God really wanted us to go, it would all work out. The answer came about a month ago. A new group which runs summer English camps for underprivileged Korean junior high and high schoolers asked us to come and so the trip was back on with some slight adjustments. The first adjustment is that we arrive in Korea on Sunday at 7:25 Korean time. Our first lessons begin the next day. Originally we had a week between arrival and teaching to adjust to the time change (a 16 hour time change is no joke) and to finish prepping lessons. As it is we get to start teaching lessons we don't know while we are completely jet-lagged. Please, please pray for us.
Jordan leaves for Salem to hang out with my parents tomorrow, but another hurdle is that she got a fever of 102 yesterday. Today it's a more manageable 99.9, but still not what I'd like for her before she heads on a plane alone. Things will all work out - they always do - but if you would pray over the next week for health (that I don't catch whatever she had) and for alertness as I teach and help these other 7 students - none with real teaching experience, and most with no foreign travel experience - to do their best and make a difference for the kids.

Anyonghee kahshipsheeyo,

Cyndi

H2O

I went swimming today. This isn't huge news, but I do generally avoid dipping myself in water. It's just not something I'm that interested in doing for the most part. I dislike the transition period between from hot and dry to cool and wet - I know, I could just jump in, but I refuse to do this. I also dislike chlorine and water in my eyes/contacts. So I just let Jordan go to the pool and have fun with friends and I stay home and be lazy. Today however I gave in and went into the pool. Jordan and I will be separated for over three weeks starting Thursday so she's getting a little clingy. It wasn't that bad, but our pool has a LOT of chlorine in it. After I got out and dried off, my legs had white powder on it. While in the pool Jordan and I did some swimming races. I did pretty well considering I have no swimming skills at all. Actually, I think Jordan's swimming lessons have rubbed off on my over the years. Just watching her and listening to the swim instructors telling her what to do has given me a theoretical understanding of how to swim better. Last week and this coming week Jordan finishes up her swimming lessons for the summer. The previous time she was put in the lower level swimming class and spent a large majority of the time on the side of the pool waiting for each swimmer to individually be helped to swim across the pool. This time I told her that on the first day's swimming test she needed to show that she could swim and do the freestyle stroke and breathing to the side thing. She did so and was put in the higher level class. The problem (for her) is that it's much more challenging. The instructor put the kids in two groups and just has them swim laps over and over for the 40 minutes. By the last laps of the day I can tell she's tired by the slower strokes. She complains but I'm very happy that she's actually doing some swimming. At the same time as her lessons, another instructor teaches jumping and diving from the diving board. This is the next lessons we'll do.

Lazy, Crazy Summer Days

So, for the past week, I've been trying to find a way to get out of the house and to a place that Jordan will be entertained and I can get some writing done. The week before we spent mostly at home, and that just didn't work. Either Jordan was bothering me, or the internet was calling me to come and play. So this week we've set up a bit of a routine. First we go to swimming lessons at 9:15. Jordan gets to swim, and I have about an hour of uninterrupted writing time. Yes it's outside by a pool, but I've got my chair and umbrella (so I don't get burnt) and have actually managed to get some good work done there. After the swimming we go somewhere nearby - the first day we went to my school so I could print stuff out, the 2nd day we went to a tiny little library branch, today we went to a coffee shop. We then go home for a little while and then set out again ASAP. This second part of the day hasn't worked as well, but one day we went to the coffee shop near our house and today we went to John's Incredible Pizza Co. John's is kind of like Chuck E. Cheese, but better. They have a buffet instead of pizza only, so there are several choices (not the most delicious food, but pretty classic buffet fair, they even have some interesting pizza choices - mac & cheese pizza included). There are then 5 room choices to eat in. One room is quiet, no TVs, two of them play sports, one is a music video room, and one is a cartoon room. The first time we went it was Memorial Day and also kind of Sarah's birthday party. We ate in the sports room (and watched one of those obscure British sports, the Syracuse Orange won I believe) and then went out and watched the kids play the games. They have the normal chuck e. cheese style games, but then they also have a roller coaster, bowling alley, bumper cars, and other more high level games. These cost more points of course, but are another option. So, I discovered the second time we went, that if we eat in the cartoon room, Jordan doesn't bother me while we eat (and she takes extra long because she's busy watching the cartoons) then she leaves for a half hour to play the games, then she comes back and munches some more while watching more cartoons. In this way, I get at least an hour of work done. So, my summer days haven't been lazy lately, but hopefully I'll get chapters 1-4 (out of 5) done before I head north to hang out with the family in Sun River!!!

Swimming

It's been in the 90's here this week, which almost induces me to get in a swimming pool to cool off. Thankfully, our apartment stays relatively cool during the day, and then when the sun hits the windows around 5:00 we have AC to cool us down more. Jordan loves the pool, though so it's a great week for her to take more swimming lessons. Swimming is something she feels pretty confident about and it's really clear when we go to the pool, because she's always trying to teach other kids what they need to do. She's mostly a doggy-paddle girl, but when the instructor was talking to a boy about how he should do the longer strokes (I'm not a swimmer, so I don't know what they're supposed to be called...), she was interrupting the instructor to show him how it's done. I can definitely imagine her as a teacher someday!
She's also pretty modest and has never felt very comfortable in a traditional swimsuit. Sarah has a swimsuit that has sleeves and shorts, and Jordan has been wanting one of those for a while, so last time we were at Target, I saw one and we found a greenish/blue one (green is her favorite color of choice for now) in her size. She now fits in really well with the boys there - she's a tomboy at heart anyway, so it works out nicely!

Reason #558 that I need to finish my dissertation...

...is that it's depressing. When you choose a topic like Darfur for your dissertation, and after 2 years of writing, it still hasn't resolved yet, it's hard to get excited about writing. Every day I have to read news articles and stories from advocates about the rape, murder, torture, mutilation, destruction, devastation and it's a little hard to take day after day.
Today we went to the library and Jordan did computer games and picked out books while I worked for a couple of hours. On the way home she asked me to tell her a story - a fairly common request - but all I could think about was the story of the 4-year old girl who was found taking care of her 13 month old brother because their parents were dead. Or the woman who was raped next to her two sisters and then watched one be murdered because she cried, and the other cut up just for the fun of it. Or the story of the boy who was shot in the back, and then found his brother who had been shot in the face and was more damaged, so the one shot in the back helped carry his brother miles and miles through the desert - at night because during the day the Janjaweed are out, and not near any wells or watering spots because that's where the Janjaweed hang out - and finally dragged both of them to a refugee camp. These are not stories that a 9-year old wants to hear, but when I told her I only had sad stories in my head, she asked me tell her one, so I watered one down a little bit, not a lot because there's not much to them to water down, and told her. She was very serious and sad for a while and then she asked me what we could do, so I thought about it and here's what I told her.
The Government of Sudan is like a child and the United Nations is the parent. Now we all know that if you want a child to behave, you need to give them boundaries and punishment if they don't behave. So, to this point, the UN has warned the GoS that what they've done is naughty and they need to stop it. The GoS looks sadly at the UN and says I'm sorry, I'll do better next time and so the UN goes away satisfied that they've proven their point. So the GoS is naughty again, and again the UN says, bad boy GoS, you've been naughty and we might have to punish you if you don't stop. Again the GoS apologizes but again they are warned not to do it again, but not punished. There needs to be a punishment if the GoS is going to behave. The problem is, the UN needs the ability to punish, and that means something needs to be taken away. One of the things that might be taken away is oil revenue, but China won't stop buying oil, so that doesn't work. Another things is other revenue, but countries haven't stopped buying things, in fact, the UK has doubled its imports of Sudanese goods since the Darfur conflict started. The only other option is to give Sudan a good spanking, but the U.S. is too busy spanking Iraq right now to get to the other problem child, so we're left with warnings and no actions.
Because of this, and no end in sight, I need to finish my dissertation so, unlike the people in the refugee camps, I can walk away.

Teaching Can be Very Interesting

Last night, I taught my adult education class as usual. The students' assignment was to prepare and present a 5-minute drama of their choice. We had people taking on Shakespeare, the Glass Menagerie, a hilarious Western version of David and Goliath, and many other classics. The final presentation of the day, the woman decided that she was going to present a play she had written. This was allowable for one of the assignments of the term, but one of the guidelines for presenting your own work was that you don't tell everyone it's your own work. It makes it harder for the audience to listen critically and open-mindedly when you know the person wrote it themselves. Anyway, she started off the presentation listing herself as the author. The play was called "Beautiful Me" and was one of the saddest things I've ever heard. The premise was a middle-aged single woman who feels ugly and gets plastic surgery to make herself feel better. The main character was supposed to be given a name different from my student's name, but she slipped and used her own name as the main character. So now, we not only know she wrote it, but we know she experienced it as well. I think it was supposed to be a tribute to plastic surgery and how it makes women feel better about herself, but in the course of the drama (which, by the way, took 15 minutes, not the allotted 5 minutes) we see her daughter crying as her mother gasps in pain and needs to wipe blood off herself and the mother asks the daughter to give her the medicine. Later, during the second surgery (I believe the surgery ended up being boobs, tummy tuck, face lift, and eye lift) we see that the daughters have left the house and the son is left to take mom to the bathroom because she can't see anything. We get the impression that she needs to be beautiful because her mother taught her that if she was beautiful, she'd act beautiful and make a better impression on other people and this is a message that she, apparently, is also teaching her own daughters.
So, the presentation ends and it's time for comments, which we do at the end of each presentation. The first guy to comment is pretty general about what he says, but the second lady is not so general. The woman who presented the play wore an outfit which showed off her boob job quite nicely, the "neckline" went all the way down. So the woman, who said she was going to be "big mamma" for this woman and tell her the truth, talked about how difficult it was to truly experience the presentation because she couldn't look at her. Later commenters made vague statements about "whatever works for you" and that kind of thing.
Now here I sit, the teacher of the class and younger than many of the people there. My expertise is in how to physically present the dramas that the students chose. I tell them how to do it and not what they are allowed to do. I am completely 100% against plastic surgery except for children born with birth defects or people who need it after major accidents. I believe that people who aren't comfortable with the way they look need to take care of their insides a lot more than their outsides, but I'm not teaching self-confidence and self-worth. I'm teaching oral interpretation. The only things I am competent to comment on are her clothing - I've told them not to wear "distracting" clothing when presenting their literature - and the fact that she told us she was the author. Yet I really wanted this woman to realize she's beautiful not because of what she looks like and what she wears, but because of the person she is on the inside. To my great relief, as I was finishing talking to students after class, I noticed "big mamma" talking to this lady about the clothing choices but also about plastic surgery in general. The lady had a lot of trouble hearing what "big mamma" was saying, I heard comments like "nobody has said this to me before" and "what's wrong with it" but "big mamma" was calm and considerate and continued to speak without getting frustrated and leaving. In fact, I ended up leaving before they did - a first! I am so grateful for people who are willing to take their own experiences and understandings and try to help others out. Too many times we don't want to hurt or offend other people and so we don't tell them the truth in love. I see it a thousand times in my classes. I ask for comments on speeches or other presentations that are horrendously bad, and everybody in the class has only positive things to say. A presenter looks up one time for one second and everybody says what great eye contact they have. Somebody gives a logically horrible argument, and everybody ignores that and talks about the great delivery. I understand not telling people they did a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad job, but let's at least be honest with others, right?
Anyway, that's my rant of the day. Feel free to take this as inspiration for your own ranting!

AKA Death Beds

Ladies and Gentlemen, as a member of the academic set, I am proud and excited to share with you the newest study from Ohio State University and published in the NY Times that sheds light on a huge problem in our world today. As many of you who grew up with multiple siblings know, skinflint parents who did not have the good sense to buy huge houses with individual rooms for each child are endangering the lives of their children through the use of... wait for it... BUNKBEDS!
Yes ladies and gentlemen, researchers have spent time and money to discover that children who sleep in bunkbeds are afflicted with "a bump on the head or worse" following a night in these death traps. I don't know about each of you, but I'd like to see some more time and money put into this important issue. What is the ratio of injuries from rolling off the bed and falling from the ladder. Do the bumps incurred from sitting up too quickly and bumping one's head on the top bunk (or ceiling!) cause trauma that lasts into later childhood? I myself was a resident of the bunkbed, and my selfish older sister insisted on sleeping on the top bunk. She now makes more money than I do, is there a correlation there? Inquiring minds want to know.
I am infinitely grateful to the NY Times for publishing this article. I only hope they aren't too late to protect the future generations from the horrors that I and my cohort have experienced!

I just watched Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture." If you haven't seen it, go to abcnews.go.com and click on Watch Video. The lecture is the final one in a great professor's career - he was diagnosed with cancer and has little time left to live, but leaves his university - Carnegie Mellon - with some advice for how to live out your dreams. One thing that caught my attention was in the interview of him by Diane Sawyer, she pointed out that Pausch pushed his students to be fearless, to take risks rather than taking the safe route. He even created an award for the most spectacular failure. I immediately thought of the class I just taught last night, where a student was explaining some options for a text she was going to present in class. I suggested the easier one to her to not make it so hard on her. When I do things like this - and I do it a lot - I always feel like I'm doing the student a favor, helping them out, getting them through the class. It has now occurred to me that I'm doing the opposite. I'm not doing a favor when I'm expecting very little from them, because that's all I'll get out of them. Instead, I need to expect them to change the world, and then give them the tools and the encouragement to get it done. It'll take more work and might make some people hate me, but what am I teaching for, if not to make a difference in my student's lives. Ask me how it's worked for me in about 6 months. I'm hoping I'll see great things.

My Own Personal Top Chef

I'm somewhat addicted to cooking shows. When I had a TV and cable, I would watch the Food Network all the time and now I watch episodes of Top Chef (which people record from Bravo Network and upload to YouTube). Jordan occasionally watches with me and apparently has gotten inspired. Last night, she was playing dress up with Kiki - we had a Kiki ballerina, a Kiki football player, and finally a Kiki waitress who brought me a menu and took my order for dinner. I made my order, and in about 5 minutes, Jordan came in with my first course - leftover noodles which she warmed up in the microwave (I was in my room and had no idea what was happening). Once the noodles were finished, she took away the plate and brought me my second course - a frozen burrito which she (over) cooked for me. The final course was the piece de resistance, though. She took strawberries which I had cut up for strawberry shortcake and mixed it with some chunks of the shortcake and some powdered sugar. She put that in a small bowl and placed the bowl on a plate. To the plate, she put syrup around the edge and sprinkled that with powdered and brown sugars. Very fancy, I have to say. The whole dinner only cost me $15, too. Budget gourmet indeed!

The Close Puppy

Last night I was cooking my delicious Stir Fry Velveted Chicken. I cut up the chicken, let it marinate for about a half hour, cooked the rice and stir fried the chicken - the whole process took about an hour. During the entire process, Kiki was no more than 3 inches away from my legs. She is definitely a close puppy - always needs to be as close a possible. We started dinner, with Kiki laying under my chair (this time actually touching my feet) when Jordan looked at her and said "what is that?" I looked down and saw something disgusting in Kiki's back fur. I wasn't sure what it was, but it looked like it had once been in a human or animal and then came out somewhere, if you know what I mean. I was a little disgusted, but being a true mom who has touched some truly disgusting things in my time, I reached down and picked it out. It was a piece of uncooked chicken. This is how close she gets to me. I dropped a piece of chicken off the cutting board, and it landed in her fur. It does make me feel loved, but really, what's a woman got to do to get a little space?
BTW, as I write this, Kiki is, of course, 3 inches from my feet. She'd be touching them, but I'm resting them on a raised footrest on the desk. sigh.

Racist Dog?

I'm starting to think that Kiki is racist. Is this possible? Generally, when Kiki sees a new person, she gets all excited and jumps up on them - a habit I'm trying to get her to stop, but something she still does. We have neighbors that are Black, and when she sees them, she gets excited, but its more like nervousness. She'll start barking and she'll charge at them a little, but then come and hide behind me while still barking. They are a really sweet family and would love to pet her and play with her, but she never will let them get close. My plan is to introduce her to them gently, maybe hold her while letting them pet her. I just don't want to make them feel bad by letting them know she doesn't like them. It makes me a little sad. I've managed to raise a daughter who accepts people no matter what they look like, now I guess I have to work on my dog.

...and the world remains silent.

Since school is over now, I've started to get back into working on finishing the dissertation. Looking to see what is happening in the news regarding Darfur - the subject of my diss - I came across this article. What is going on? Why is nothing being done to fix this problem. At least 300,000 people have died - a conservative estimate when compared to others of 400 or 500K. 2.5 million people have had their homes destroyed, wells poisoned, livelihoods vanished. Women are attacked and raped, children are forced to grow up in refugee camps when their schools aren't being bombed. Aid organizations are doing their best to help the people out, but are at risk of being attacked, robbed, and murdered themselves. The U.N. tries to work with the government to send in 26,000 peacekeeping troops - troops that were supposed to be sent in January but still aren't there, and this is the same government that sent the plane that bombed the school that killed the children. I don't know what needs to be done, I'm not an expert on intervention in things like this, and the situation is very complex - with both sides erring in major ways - but surely more can be done than is currently.
It makes me sad every time I start to research the current situation. When I chose Darfur as my topic, 2 1/2 years ago, I was fairly certain it would be all over by the time I finished writing. The end of the diss is in sight. The end of the conflict, not visible at all.

Happy Birthday to Me

Okay, I know I'm 33 years old now and I'm not supposed to be into birthdays anymore. After all, birthdays are for kids and I should be mourning every year that I get closer to death, but I'm afraid I'm just a little too juvenile and not mature enough to hate the day of my birth and avoid it like the plague. I just love having people say happy birthday to me and giving me good wishes. I love having Jordan do her very best to be a good girl all day long and serve me (she got me breakfast this morning). I love presents when they come, especially the cheesy dollar store ones I get from J.
I came to school this morning with a birthday greeting from a colleague who I didn't know knew my birthday and I wondered how he knew until I looked down the hall and saw the crepe paper decorating my office. My ISP is taking me out (to the campus cafeteria) tonight, Jordan has some top-secret plans. It's just fun!!!

Miscellaneous Blog Entry Title #1

Today as Jordan and I were driving into the church parking lot, I noticed a man and woman pushing a shopping cart into the lot as well. After we had parked and were entering the building, we saw them "park" the cart with the parking attendants (who quite gallantly put orange traffic cones in front and back of it). We followed the couple into church (watching the woman adjust her pants at the side of the path while the man impatiently waited for her). We then entered the sanctuary and I decided that I wanted to sit near them. This was partly out of curiosity (I admit it) and partly because I saw it as a chance to be accepting of people different than me. I remember growing up and seeing people come into church that were poorer, dirtier, different than me and I would avoid them, so I now try to consciously not avoid them. They were a bit disruptive during the service. The man was a little more into it than the woman, he would nod his head at various times when the pastor said something he agreed with, he filled out the visitor information card (bringing it down to the usher and handing it to him in the middle of the service) and he was careful to fill in the blanks in the sermon notes. The woman was in and out of the church, finally leaving during communion to smoke outside. It was also apparent that they hadn't showered in a while and while the smell wasn't overpowering, it was there.
Shortly after we entered, Jordan got something in her eye and went to the restroom and in that time, a guy (youngish, cutish) came in and asked if he could sit by me which of course I said yes to. He sat down and then Jordan came back. The guy sat there for maybe 10 or 15 minutes before he got up and moved to the other side of the church.

Now here's what I'm wondering and what I would love to ask him (but never will of course). Did he leave because Jordan returned and he now found himself seated next to a single mother, or did he leave because he couldn't handle the couple in front of us (I guess he could have left because he saw friends of his, but as he moved to a seat behind us and made no indication of searching the church, I am more inclined towards my other 2 options) Neither reason is blame-free on his part, but I'm more curious about the 2nd option. We want church to be a place where people can come and worship, right? Our pastor even scolded people last month for leaving the service early to get out of the parking lot quicker because it interrupts the work of the H.S. We also want to be an open place where anyone can come to find God, regardless of where they come from. So what do we do with people who obviously haven't been to church in a while, or this one ever, and who don't understand the church "culture?" People who are that disrupting presence but maybe need God more than others. It seems obvious that we should welcome them and provide a safe space for them to learn, but is it obvious? How do we deal with this? Do we provide a safe climate in our churches for others to come and learn? Just a few questions to ponder. I'm off to dreamland now!

Voting

Unless you live in a cave (and if you do, you probably don't have internet access), you know there's an election on and a highly contested race between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. Additionally, you probably know that "youth are turning out to support Obama in record numbers" or something to that effect. Here's what I was wondering today as I was looking through the news: will Obama effect the involvement of young people in future elections. Imagine all these dewy-eyed fresh faced 18-32 year olds (I'll no longer fit in that category as of one week from today, sigh) so excited about a candidate who they feel represents their interests. They turn out and vote, they work on the campaign, they watch YouTube videos of Obama girl. November comes along, they vote for their candidate and... he doesn't win and they stop caring about politics because their vote still doesn't count or ...he does win and all of the sudden they see what their involvement could mean. I know we can't definitively predict that this will happen either way, especially since we don't always have stellar, devotion-inspiring candidates running for office, but I think it's interesting and I'll be watching closely to see what happens.

"A so-called "mash van" in the UK shows off its new "mash cone" with sausage, mashed potato, gravy and peas in an ice cream cone."

I found this on the BBC. I knew the British weren't known for their food, but I had no idea they had no taste buds at all.

The Pacific

Yesterday I dropped Jordan off in Oceanside for a couple days with her cousins and then drove up to Costa Mesa for a school/prayer thing. As I was driving up I-5, I looked out to my left and saw the beautiful Pacific Ocean and it hit me that I hadn't seen the ocean once since I moved her last August. What is wrong with me? I've managed to keep myself locked in Riverside and haven't gotten out to see all the beautiful things around me. I got the LA Times this morning, and there was a section on 8 cool places to visit nearby here - desert, ocean, mountains, rivers - and again, I haven't seen any of them. I'm now making a public pledge that I will go someplace new and different once a month, and not Disneyland or Universal Studios-type places, but places with real character. I want Jordan to learn to appreciate the world around her and learn to entertain herself instead of needing an adrenaline rush or a cartoon character to entertain her. She's been giving me the "I'm bored" speech a lot lately and so I'm trying to instill in her that she can learn to entertain herself. She just needs to figure out how to use the simple tools she finds around her to create new and interesting things. We'll see how it goes, and if you have any suggestions of cool and interesting places, let me know!

True Beauty

Now this is a beauty contest I can support...

A New Theory

Last time I visited Salem, I noticed that there were a lot of new homes being built. Salem is growing as a town a little bit, but not enough to necessitate the huge numbers of new homes and it was very confusing to me. I think I might have an idea about it now. Today I was listening to NPR and they were talking about how divorce is negatively affecting the earth. When people get divorced they split a household in half, and therefore use twice as much electricity, gas, and other utilities, thus hurting the environment. So, it could be that we need so many more homes because so many families are splitting up the homes they were living in. Sad, but true.
On a slightly unrelated note, the Southern Baptist Convention this week acknowledged that global warming is real and that they have an obligation to fight against it. I can't wait to tell my students - most of whom think it's a conspiracy by Al Gore (what exactly the conspiracy is trying to get them to do is not clear).

Green Lights

Did you ever have a perfect traffic day? Yes this seems a little shallow and unimportant, but really, doesn't it make you feel a little better if you arrive at your destination without feeling hassled and rushed from hitting every red light, waiting for 2 trains to pass by, and being stuck behind the elderly lady who can't see over the steering wheel? On Monday, Jordan and I headed to my school to meet with our South Korea team. On the way there, I was amazed to discover that we had not hit a single red light. I informed Jordan and then we kept track, every light turned green before we had to stop until we hit the three lights before the freeway and then we got them all red. Then, on the way home, we hit it again - no red lights at all until the very final turn to get on the street of our apartment complex. In a world of stress and rush and frustration, it's nice to have something little to smile about!

Nelson who?

My students made me very sad today. I had them read some sample speeches, and one was Bill Clinton presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Nelson Mandela and another was Nelson Mandela accepting the medal. Someone in one of my classes asked me, "Who's Nelson Mandela." I looked at them disbelievingly and asked if they were serious. Several other students spoke up and said they didn't know who he was either. Seriously, one of the greatest men of the last 50 years and less than half of my class recognized the name or had any idea of who he was. I went on to explain who he was and his contribution to society and his winning the Nobel Peace Prize. They scoffed the peace prize (because if Al Gore could win it, then it has apparently lost all importance). Then they said that his fight had nothing to do with them, so why should they care. I sputtered a bit, unsure of what to say - the man who endured years of imprisonment and was instrumental to ending the systematic racist regime of his country being described as not applicable to their lives? For the first time in my life, I felt some fear for our future...

Opreation Snow: Success

We had another unexpected weekend last weekend. One of my students came to me on Friday and told me that the faculty member coming on their tubing trip backed out at the last minute, and since it was a university-sponsored trip, they needed someone to come along. They'd pay all my expenses, I just needed to show up. So, Jordan and I hopped on the (nice) bus on Saturday morning and headed for Big Bear. It took us about 2 hours to get there because of traffic and being in a bus on curvy roads, but only 1 1/2 to get back. One of Jordan's favorite parts was watching movies (they showed Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but the sound was low so she missed most of the swearing, Eight Below, and Cars), but it was both of our first times tubing and that was pretty fun. I forgot my coat, and didn't realize until we were half-way there, and was a little worried about what was going to happen, but when we stepped off the bus with long underwear (top and bottom) shirt and sweater, I was actually pretty warm. Some of the area had natural snow, but most of the tubing run was the manufactured variety and the weather stayed nice most of the afternoon. I didn't get cold until right before we were leaving, so that all worked out. Big Bear seems like a pretty nice place. Nice big, blue lake, mountains all around, events for summer and winter. We read about a Pirate Faire this summer, so Jordan and I will probably head up there for an afternoon in June to play pirates - we have the costumes!

The Lady and the Lion

You need to check out this video. Amazing.

Happy Valentine's Day

Jordan and I celebrated Valentine's day today with the annual traditions and some new events. I went to her school for their party at the end of the day and then we came home, cleaned up a bit, and headed for the vet. We discovered that I was right about Kiki's age - she's about one year old now, give or take 6 months. She has not yet been spayed, so that's something we'll have to take care of very soon. She's all official and up-to-date on her shots now, though.
After that, Jordan and I went to the traditional part of our Valentine's celebration. Every year, she and I get all dressed up and go to a restaurant just for dessert. The wait staff is always a little taken aback when we don't order a meal, but it's a part of the tradition. So, we got gussied up (yes that's another of my grandma's words, consider this a quick tribute) and headed out. Jordan got a Smore's dessert which she hated, and then got a replacement scoop of ice cream. I got apple crisp which was WAY too big, but managed to eat about 1/3 of it. After that we did some shopping because my ISP team (the one's going to South Korea with me this summer) are coming over for a slumber party tomorrow night. On the way home, we went a new way that's a little off the beaten path - not that far off, but a tiny bit. We saw a creature dart in front of us and then go off into the field next to us. I thought it was either a dog or a deer but upon closer inspection found that it was a coyote! When I took Kiki out for her walk tonight, someone else mentioned hearing them and seeing one herself. It made me a little nervous as I brought my cute little fresh meat back home with me. Hope you all had a fun-filled Valentine's Day, too!

Kiki Darling

Well, as of tomorrow, Kiki is officially a part of our family. In celebration, her present is a wonderful, special trip to the vet! We don't know if she's spayed, if she's had shots, or how old she is, but hopefully we'll get most of that taken care of tomorrow. To prepare her for this visit, I decided to use my new clippers on her to get her all trimmed up and pretty. The hair on her face had grown so long that I couldn't really see her eyes any more except for some small slits. When I first started the trimming process, Kiki freaked out and wouldn't come near my. Jordan and I together couldn't calm her down. To be fair, in the past I've trimmed her with my really dull hair scissors and that couldn't have felt good. Also, I tried the trim on her head. When I went to her back, she calmed down, and by the end of the session, she let me trip the hair on her nose in front of her eyes. Between the first attempt and the end success, I managed to get rid of all the knots of fur on her ears, legs, and "private area." Because of all this trimming, by the time we were done she no longer looked like the Kiki we know and love. In fact, if I hadn't come out of the bathroom with her, I would not even know she was the same dog. My sister-in-law trimmed her up pretty good over Christmas, but that's nothing compared to today's trim. She has long hair on her ears and her tail, but everything else is a half inch or shorter. She's all soft and knot-less and cute and we're excited that she's now ours forever!

He said what?

Okay, when I chose to come teach at a Christian college, I knew that I'd be dealing with some very conservative ideas. I tend to be more liberal in my politics (yes Christians can be liberal, or as my brother-in-law calls me, a red commie liberal), but I don't feel that interferes with my Christianity. I also feel I can be nonjudgmental with my students conservative ideas and grade them on their presentation of the topic rather than their point-of-view. I'm having a bit of difficulty with one student, however. The first occasion I had to understand his political stance was when he told me in class that he hadn't done assigned research on illegal immigration, but he knew a lot because he was a Minuteman - the guys who aren't border patrol but watch the borders with their rifles and wait for the illegal aliens to cross and then detain them until the Border Patrol agents can come and arrest them. This is pretty antithetical to my view that borders are a human invention and God has called us to love others and take care of the poor and needy. Anyway, I took a deep breath, smiled and told him to bring me the homework later for a lowered grade. Now I've asked students to submit their topics for the second speech and find myself unable to grade his topic. His political problem is that women are allowed to run for president. He doesn't feel that women should be given this chance, that we should enact a law that, if they get the presidency, they aren't given any power, because this is "known throughout history and Christianity" and is a biblical principle. Now I'm not an expert in the bible, but in all my reading of the bible in my year of Christian junior high, high school and college, as well as my readings in church and on my own lead me to say that God's principles were for the church, not for countries. I just don't even know what to do with this.

----- update - the topic right after his was of a female student wanting to talk about women's rights. he, he, he.

Going back in time

Today Jordan and I went to the art museum for a class project - she's supposed to visit 5 places of interest around Riverside and write about them for school. We went downtown and as we neared the museum, saw streets blocked off for a festival of some sort. We parked and walked toward the museum and as we crossed orange street entered a world 200 years past and a continent away. Apparently, this weekend is the Dickens festival and we happened upon it by accident. It's funny, but most of the interesting times we have are unplanned and unlooked-for. There were a lot of people dressed in period garb. Queen Victoria was there and Jordan curtsied for her and then asked her some questions about her life - imagine, an audience with the queen. There were some Scottish bagpipe players and reel dancers. Someone was stamping silver, gold, and bronze coins. There were booths for buying period clothing, books, crafts, etc. There were crafts for the kids, including lessons on etiquette for children (girls should be allowed to engage in "boyish activities" but only in the court, not in the street which would be unmannerly). We got to see some real corsets, Jordan had been curious about them so she got to see what they really looked like. She got to try out a spinning wheel. It was not a huge festival - took up three blocks. We ended up spending about a half hour at the art museum (as you can imagine, it wasn't that big) but spent almost two hours at the festival. It was a rather fun afternoon.

Solomon's Mommy

On Sunday, the pastor at my church spoke on Solomon, but took a stance I had never heard today. He asked us, what kind of parents must Solomon have had to make him choose wisdom as the one trait he should have above all others. David and Bathsheba must have been the kind of parents that knew what things to spend time on and what things could be left alone. If we spend all of our time telling our kids they need to look good, or study hard, or play competitively, then we're going to end up with kids who value looks, intelligence and competitiveness above all else. These traits are not, in themselves, bad traits, but they shouldn't be the most important of all. If, instead, we spend time teaching our kids the kinds of values we want them to have - the fruit of the spirit and qualities such as that, then we might end up with kids who, if asked the question what do you value most, come up with the answer that we wish they'd give.
I'm also reading a book that Eric lent me called The Blessing of a Skinned Knee. I haven't finished it, but appreciate its take on not overprotecting children based on Jewish principles. If we work to hard keeping our kids sheltered from LIFE, then they won't ever learn how to live. Great thoughts to consider, I think.

And the tables are turned

So, tonight I was sitting in my room, working on my lessons for class next week when I heard the cat growling (there really is no other word for it, it's a sound distinctive from a meow and a howl, Jordan says it sounds more like she's throwing up, but we'll call it a growl). Now, this noise is fairly common in our house, because when Kiki gets bored, she goes into my closet and finds the cat and annoys her until they are both growling at each other. So I look up from my chair to see Kiki laying on the bed, minding her own business. I then look toward the closet and there's the cat, at the doorway, taunting Kiki. She just sat at the door for a couple minutes growling and Kiki stayed laying on the bed, looking around as if asking, "what on earth is going on here? What am I supposed to do now? Am I still the dog, or has she become the dog now?" Eventually, Kiki remembered that, yes, indeed, she was still the dog and quite a bit larger than Sheba and so she jumped off the bed and rushed over to the closet at which point Sheba remembered that, no, she wasn't a dog and indeed was a bit smaller than the animal coming quickly towards her, she then turned tail (literally) and ran back into one of her hiding spots. It was all very amusing - this is why we get pets, right? For moments like these...

A Pain in the Neck

This week I've gotten another one of my killer neck pains - the kink in the neck that just won't go away. Of course the last time I got one, I was at Penn State and the University Health Services doctor prescribed three medications - one was Valium and the other two were other major knock-you-out pain medications. I didn't take any of them, but went to the physical therapist and she worked her magic and I got better. Unfortunately, I don't have time for the physical therapist this week, so am just overdosing on Advil and getting through it. The worst thing is that it's just starting to feel okay at bedtime, but my wierd sleeping habits exacerbate (vocab word for the day) the problem and so the next day it's back again. I'm trying to remember the exercises the physical therapist had me do before, but when I tried them the first day they didn't make me better and may have made it worse. The neck - such a small part of the body, but a very pivotal (get it?) one. We're on to the weekend, though, so maybe that will help?!?

Help

Okay, I need some help. I'm trying to think of a movie or television show that I could show my students that would be an example of misperceiving someone - a case of mistaken identity. The one I could think of was in Seinfeld when Elaine dates a guy who she thinks is black and who thinks she is Latina. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the video to that, so I'm still searching. Any help would be appreciated!

Emoticons

In preparation for my Interpersonal Communication class, I came across some emoticons that people online use to express emotion. Several of them are familiar, but thought I'd share them with you:

:D - grin
:*) - kiss
:( - frown
;) - wink
:) - smile
:'( - crying/sad
: > - devilish grin (really?)
{name} - hug
::(::):: - bandaid
:/ - frustrated
:O - surprise

I love teaching

Now, I usually love teaching at the beginning of the semester when students come in without any prejudices and anger about grades, etc. I love getting to know them and realizing that they really are learning something from me after all. This love generally deteriorates towards the middle of semester and goes away completely when students a. cheat b. complain about their grades c. have their moms call me to complain about their grades or a myriad of other issues. This semester I've gained a new perspective on teaching, however. For the first time in my entire teaching career, I have students in my class who I've had in the past, so there's a bit of a relationship with them already built up. Of course, one cheated and one complained about a grade in the past, but they still seem to be fairly eager and unprejudiced about this new class (and the cheater has to know that I'll be checking his work two or three times to make sure he doesn't do it again). I've also had students from last semester stop by to see how things are going, chat, ask for letters of recommendation. This has never happened to me before, either. At Pac 10 or Big 10 schools, there isn't as much personal attention - you rarely see the same people twice in a month unless you are in class with them. Here, I see people I know all the time, several times a day. I think I like it!

Making Money

Jordan was quite the money-maker today. It started this morning when we went down to the farmer's market. Along with the usual fare (vegies, fruits, flowers, bread) there was a booth from a local radio station. They had a wheel and if you landed on the spaces with their call numbers on it, you won a prize. Well, Jordan spun the wheel and she landed on the prized space so we got a $40 gift card to a local restaurant. We went there tonight and it was quite good, nice ambience, nice wait staff, good food...
Jordan's second money-making scheme was more of an entrepreneurial enterprise (if I spelled that correctly, I think I deserve a prize or something). A couple months ago, I got tired of my dirty car but was unwilling to go to a car wash, so Jordan and I washed my car by putting dish soap in a dish pan, washing with a sponge, and rinsing with the watering can (it took a lot of trips back and forth to actually rinse the whole car) and the car turned out looking fairly good. After that one successful attempt, Jordan decided she was a pro and would make money washing cars for people in the apartment complex. Ever since that day (in September or October) she's been trying to rope her friends into helping her. Today, it was quite warm and so she finally had her chance but I took the wind out of her sails a bit when I told her that washing one car did not qualify her as a car-washing expert. I told her to wash our car a couple more times and once she got it down she could go out and make money at it. Well, she started doing that but her friend Rosa's mom decided to let them wash her car and paid them $5 to do it. Jordan got the $5 this time and apparently, I'm paying them $5 tomorrow to wash my car and giving that to Rosa. Then, now being experts, they can go around and charge others for the same service. She's nothing if not inventive, my little girl!

I SO relate to this (from http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php)

New years, new adventures

Well, I have been (quite subtly) asked to update the blog and fill you all in on the past weeks. I took Kiki to the vet two weeks ago to check if she had a chip and was informed that she didn't and "looks like you've got yourself a dog!" We still have her description and our phone number at the humane society and so we're not making our puppy permanent until Valentines Day.
After much debate (mostly in my own head) we decided to go to my parents' for Christmas this year. Having a puppy along was a bit of a complication but Motel 6 accepts pets and Kiki is a fairly mellow dog so it wasn't horrible. The interesting bit was when we got to my parents and initiated Kiki into the family pack. Just to update you all - in my immediate family, there are a grand total of 8 dogs - a Great Dane, a Mastiff, a Vishla, a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd, a Cocker Spaniel (Kiki), and 3 mutts. Of those 8, 7 were in Oregon over Christmas. My parents' dog Molly (the BC/AS) is a very territorial dog and was not happy at all about having another female in her home (of the 8 dogs, 3 are female). She was snappish for most of the first 3 days we were there. My brother's dog Luke (the Vishla) liked a Kiki... a little too much maybe. He just couldn't figure out how to play with her without humping her. So, for the first couple days, Kiki spent most of the time on my lap trying to get away from the dogs. On the second day we were there, we decided to go to my sister's house - she has the Great Dane, Mastiff and 2 of the mutts. I brought Kiki because I wasn't thrilled about her staying at my parent's alone and she hadn't quite figured out how to adjust to the new bathroom schedule, so needed more monitoring. I assumed that she was going to spend the evening on my lap again, but she surprised me. She decided that her little 24 pound frame was up to attacking the Great Dane and Mastiff and became little attack dog. When King, the Mastiff, took her up on her offers to play, however, she realized what she'd gotten herself into and tried to get away. Getting away from a dog that can reach anything without needing to jump proved to be a challenge and I think she regretted her earlier ferociousness. By Christmas Day, probably due to her experience with King, Kiki and Molly had figured out how to play together without killing each other.
When Luke left for a couple days when my brother went to visit friends, Kiki and Molly had great fun playing uninhibited with each other. So, I think Kiki had a great Christmas.
I had a pretty good Christmas, too, but I gotta tell you folks, I love my family, but I'm not too sad that we don't live in Oregon anymore. There were periodic bursts of blue sky while we there, but for most of the time, it was gray and rainy and gloomy. I got sick towards the end of the trip and am still snuffling and using up Kleenex in great bundles. The entire trip home was gray and gloomy and rainy, too, until we got to the Grapevine. Once we got to the top and entered Angeles National Forest, the sun came out and the clouds were left behind. I know it's a little sick and twisted, but when we passed by the Smoky the Bear sign and when I saw that the fire danger was "high," I got a little smile on my face and was thankful to be home!
Well, folks I have to go right now. Hope you all are having a wonderful New Year and looking forward to exciting things to come.