Thursday, January 20, 2011

class 1 = success

tuesday was a marathon day. i was out of the house by 6:45 a.m. so i could exercise before work. as tough as it was to get up, i think that was a wise decision because it gave me energy to last until my class at night.

and, if i do say so myself, i think i rocked the house. it was totally cool. the students were well-engaged. they were talky but not too chatty. i really enjoyed it. and i think they did too. well, no one has dropped the course since that first class. so i think that's a good sign.

i even had a student speak with me after class about helping him choose a topic for the big paper. that means, perhaps, that he's taking the assignment seriously. maybe? i hope, at least.

and, yes, it was way cool when one of the students called me "professor."

*blush* :)

Friday, January 14, 2011

update on my course

the course that i'm scheduled to teach was supposed to begin this past tuesday. but, as you may recall, we had another freak course of snow, so the class was canceled (as was 2 days of work!).

i was actually relieved that it was canceled because up until later this week i was still skeptical that it was going to happen. i originally had 4 people registered, and the university requires courses to have at least 6, otherwise they cancel the course. so i was sort of waiting around and not planning much because i felt certain it was going to be canceled. but then, someone dropped the course and i was down to only 3 people. then i definitely thought the course was going to be canceled and i didn't do a single bit of planning.

but then i was told by "those that be" that under no circumstances was this course going to be canceled. this works a-ok for me because i get paid the same amount no matter what! fools!

and, in the meantime, i had one more person register today! so now i'm back up to 4, which i think is better. so now i need to get planning!

Monday, January 10, 2011

snow day!

i can't believe it snowed for the second time in only a matter of a couple of weeks! plus, this is the second year in a row that we've had substantial snow. craziness!

the city shut down so, of course, both me and the hubby had off work. it's been great catching up on things around the house.

every morning at anytime between 5 and 9 am doozer starts meowing at the foot of our bed. this morning he was insistent that he wanted out! but when i opened the door, he wasn't so sure. so i sort of nudged him outside and shut the door behind him. this is a picture i took from inside the house. he sat on the stoop for a good couple of minutes contemplating this crazy white stuff. this was the first time he'd experienced snow.
doozer checks out the scene from the back stoop

he was a little leery at first, but he got used to it.
now he's a little leary

mokey, on the other hand hated it. i don't have any pictures of her, but she was pretty hilarious trying to walk in it. she immediately came back inside, unlike doozer who enjoyed going in and out all day.

hope the bees are doing okay.
the bees. hope they're surviving!

"my feet are cold."
pensive

you can see the whole flickr set here.

happy birthday yesterday to my big brother!

i know this picture is sideways, but i don't have the ability to rotate it. you get the idea none-the-less.

Sunday, January 09, 2011

party success

the part spread
before

the destruction
after

thanks to everyone who came out (in the freezing weather!) for our annual party. we had a great time, as usual. pictures to be coming soon.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

kitty picts of the night

we got a new camera for christmas so now i love taking pictures of the kitties.

mokey
mokey, taking a break from her nighttime crazies. this might be my favorite picture of her ever.

doozer
doozer, if you can't tell, is on the bed nestled between the hubby's legs and 1/2 buried under his computer and lap desk. classic.

just found out!



i'm teaching a course in the undergraduate social work college! my first class starts tuesday! woah! that gives me no time to prepare...

but i'm excited about it.

Monday, January 03, 2011

relaxing

with the stress and business of the holidays over (or mostly over. we still have our party approaching. are you coming?), we've been relaxing over the past few days. doozer has really let himself get lazy. oh, wait...is that a change from the normal?

doozer relaxing after a hectic holiday

doozer relaxing after a hectic holiday

Saturday, January 01, 2011

christmas pictures

our christmas pictures are up on flickr. we had a really nice visit in new jersey with my side of the family. we were originally supposed to be up there for less than 5 days, but the trip got extended an extra day and a half due to the christmas blizzard, so we got some nice extra visiting in with everyone.

here are some of the highlights:

december is the month to celebrate Jesus' birthday, as well as my hubby's and my stepdad's.
celebrating the hubby's bday
to celebrate my stepdad's birthday it's tradition to go to pizza hut and then a movie, which we did on the second evening of our trip. we saw true grit, which we all really enjoyed.

my sister came down from new york on the night of the 23rd and we had a very relaxing christmas eve and christmas day.
christas eve fondu dinner!

we always enjoy eating, drinking, resting, and going in the hot tub.
getting ready for the hot tub (too bad it was broken when we got in it!)
too bad it broke down 1/2 way through the trip, maybe from too much use(?).

on the day after christmas we met up in central jersey with my brother's family to have a family portrait taken.


luckily, everyone safely navigated the snow from the photographer's and met up again at mom's house for a second round of christmas.
opening presents with the waldies

at this point the snow was really piling up and the hubby and i quickly realized that we wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
watching the snow accumulate outside

we made the most of being "stranded" and had a great time playing cards, watching movies, eating, and visiting. by the morning of the 27th, there was about 18 inches on the ground.
cleanup after the blizzard
that's not a sight we're used to seeing.
sunset at the snowy bay
beautiful.

sadly, all good things must come to an end. so on the 28th we struck out across the bay on the ferry, bound for delaware en route to south carolina.
me driving

we were navigating the icy roads fairly well when we realized that our car had a flat tire. that set us back about $100 and an hour, which made our long journey even longer. fortunately, we found a tire store very easily and they were super nice. it also caused us to be traveling past south of the border right about the time we were ready for dinner. so, after all these years, we finally made the stop.

after all these years, we finally made it
we were a bit tired, but i definitely enjoyed the weirdness of the place. and, they had a relatively decent salad bar, believe it or not.

we got back into town in time to meet up with my other set of parents (my father and stepmother) for christmas part 3. i'll post about that at a later date.