Dangerous wind chills

The public schools have all closed today due to "dangerous wind chills."

The University? Business as usual. Never mind that it's -22 actual temp and -42 wind chill. Bah...

Not that I'm surprised. One time the wind chill was -60 and there were warnings not to go outside with skin exposed because frostbite could occur in seconds. The University didn't bother to close then either. Mind you, I still lived on campus then. Now I actually have to warm up my car, drive to school, find a parking spot, and walk to school.

It just occurred to me...

Maybe you don't know what I'm writing my paper on...

My question is: "How are teachers using blogs in their classrooms?"

Nifty, huh?
Two of my favorite things; teaching and blogs.

I sent out a questionnaire to 26 teachers with various types of school-related blogs. I'll send more if I can find more teacher/class/school blogs. If you know of any and would like to share, I'd love you forever :)

I'm also reading journal articles and books. There doesn't seem to be a lot out there about this topic and most of what is out there has been published very recently (last 6 months).

All about the paper...

Ok... so this bit isn't about the paper...

It was around -30 this morning. Right now it's -13 (actual temperature) with a wind chill of -41. WAY too cold for me. Yes, that's right. Such a thing as "Too cold for Aspen" does exist... it starts around -20.

This bit isn't about the paper either, but it is very important...
One of my friends who had a baby in early December stopped by my office today with baby in tow. Cuteness! First time I've seen him.

Now... to the paper...
I've been working diligently on my paper. I really have. Go me!
/pats self on back

I changed advisers for my Research Paper. My previous adviser is retiring at the end of this semester and wanted all her advisees to defend their papers by April 15th. I'm not sure if I will be done by then (my goal is April 30th) and I'm afraid I'd rush too much and be unhappy with my results. Besides, she has something like 50 advisees, 27 of who are doing graduate papers. We both agreed it would be best - for both of us.

My new adviser is actually my old (Undergrad) adviser, so I know we work well together. Plus, she found a sample proposal for me to look at.

My next paper-related goal is to have my adviser look at my proposal early next week. It needs to be approved and I need to get all of my committee members to sign my "Form 3" - saying my proposal is ok and that they WILL be on my committee.

Once that is done the Graduate Office can continue processing my request for graduation.

Eeeee!

I still need to do a Written Exam, but I'm not even thinking about that until after my Research Paper is done. I've GOT to get the dreaded paper over and done with!

Most importantly, I feel good about my paper. I'm actually working on it - constantly and I'm getting stuff done. I know I will finish it. I couldn't have said that 2 weeks ago.

The Hobbit

Ok... so I know I'm probably the last person on earth to know this, but apparently Peter Jackson and New Line have put aside their differences and come to an agreement. They'll be starting work on The Hobbit soon. I mean really... who else could do it? It has to be the Kiwi!

B-b-b-bowling!

I've never claimed to be a great bowler. Actually, I'm pretty poor. My average is 96 - and that's after 3 years of being on a league. One night last year, I bowled a Turkey (three strikes in a row) and almost passed out. My highest score was 142 and I did a happy dance.

So... Imagine my utter shock when tonight... out of nowhere... my first game I bowled a 4-Bagger (four strikes in a row) and my final score was 195.

*tee-hee*

Uhm... yeah... I'm flying high :)

One for the parents...

From Two Lumps.

Graduation... again!

I just turned in my graduation petition and paid my $10.

This will be my 3rd graduation...
1. High School
2. Bachelor of Science in Education
3. Master of Science in Education
4. .... Ph D? ....

Gah! I've been in school forever! What will it be like to be on the other side of the fence full-time?

I'm already looking for jobs and plan on attending the Education Job Fair in April. I've got a bit of teaching experience:

Student Teaching
1 year subbing
1 summer Upward Bound
Multiple workshops for the Ed Dept
1 workshop for Share the Future
5 time Teaching Assistant
And my current job, by its very nature, requires me to teach students and professors new computer skills.

Somebody out there is going to want me.

Right?

I mean throw in my semester abroad, RA and Hall Council experiences, 2 summers working for Concordia Language Villages, my sense of humor, and love of teaching and learning... I'm a real catch ;)

Plus, I'm willing to relocate.

Now, back to that paper.

Heath Ledger

I can't even tell you how sad this makes me.

5 1/2 Weeks

Wowsers.

I can't believe I just spent 5.5 weeks in Texas.

Got back to Minnesota on Saturday and was greeted with -20 degree weather. Even when I've been living here and have been acclimated (as acclimated as you can get to that cold of weather) I find that a bit too cold. To go from 40-79 degree weather to -20 = BRRRRRRRRRR!

Had a great trip home, filled with family, friends and fun. I was sorry to leave, but eager to return to my life up here. It's and odd contradiction... but I feel what I feel.

Sheba (kitty) was SO happy to get back to HER home (my apt). She had a bad attitude for most of the time we were in Texas. As soon as I let her out of her carrier (in the apt) she was running around, rubbing her face against everything and squawking happily. I guess it didn't smell like her anymore. She's been super-snuggly and purrs constantly. What can I Say? She's Adorable.

I've got to get moving on my paper. I brought everything to Texas with me, planning on working 4 hours a day, but my time was filled with other pursuits. So now I must live and breath my paper.

Taos 2008

Wonderful trip!

Finally got to meet the people at the Alpaca ranch (friends of my parents). I took lots of pictures of Alpacas (they have around 170). They're so sweet and gentle (totally opposite of llamas and camels). They rarely spit and they're so much smaller. They have a few babies which are ADORABLE. I got to help out on Sunday morning; feeding the alpacas, driving the hay truck, holding one while it got a shot, leading a blind one to its food and water.





This one is named Mr. T, because of the white markings on his face.


They also have 6 Great Pyrenees to protect their alpacas from coyotes and wolves. You can hear them barking in the night, but it's actually kind of soothing. Don't ask me which one this is, they all kind of look the same = BIG and WHITE. You can't go anywhere on their property without having at least one of them following you.


They have about 6 or 7 horses and a pony, but I didn't get pictures of them.

And of course I have to have at least one mountain picture...


The lady we stayed with had the cutest cat. His ear has a bit missing and one fang is longer than the other, but such a character. LOVABLE! He slept on the hide-a-bed with me and whenever I was in the house he was snuggled up to me. His name is Brutus.


I had a blast and I didn't want to leave. I hope I can go back and visit them soon.

Also went to several stores in Taos, including 2 pottery stores. My dad bought me a piece from a local artist (who we got to talk to).

Away

Happy Birthday Dad!

We're heading to New Mexico tomorrow morning.

Tonight, I mourn the loss of Sir Edmund Hillary, a remarkable (and humorous) man.

When I was in Dunedin (NZ) I visited the Otago museum and saw their Everest/Hillary exhibit. Looking at the photographs, reading about their trip, and then seeing the equipment with which they made their climb was... awe-inspiring. They had an area where you could write a postcard to Hillary and they actually sent them to him... I think it was mainly for the kids, but since I'm just a big kid I wrote one.

2008

Party went really well. Quite a few people showed up (customer/friends of my parents).

Been able to see most of my family and friends.

On New Years Day, Dad and I went up to Oklahoma to Arbuckle Wilderness. Mom had to work :( It's a 7 mile drive through the park and the animals are RIGHT THERE, in your face. They do have some of the more dangerous ones (tigers and wolves) in cages. You can buy cups of food to feed them and a camel got up-close-and-personal with me. I was trying to feed him out of my right hand, but he saw the cup I had in my left hand and lunged for it. Dad was trying to help by rolling up my window, but seeing a camel's head is bigger than it's neck, he actually trapped the thing in the car with us and it was like.... 6 inches from my face. LOL. I almost climbed in the back seat!

Dad got some good pics:
White Bengal Tiger


Tanish/white Buffalo


Also hung out with Jer a couple of times. Almost more than I do when we're in MN. Odd.

Went down to East Texas yesterday to see Mary K. Three and a half hours down, four hours there, and three and a half hours back. Long day, but totally worth it.

Oh and our very own Bengal has been keeping me entertained. She loves the little laser Dad got for her. Watch how she walks when she's coming out of the room. Sometimes she looks like a BIG cat.

Friends...

Curiosity = Cat

I was cleaning the kitchen just now and had left the dishwasher door open and bottom drawer out. I heard a *clank* behind me and turned around find Serabi IN the dishwasher, sniffing around.

Nothing is safe with this cat around.

Holidays...

Spent Christmas Eve with Dad's family. Saw my aunt and uncle and ALL my cousins = AWESOMENESS! Very rare. My oldest second cousin is graduating high school this year and is about 4 inches taller than me *beam/boggle*. The youngest is 17 months.

Spent Christmas Day with Mom's family (two aunts and an uncle). Much quieter day, but loved it just as much.

Went down yesterday to be with aunt and uncle and my Alabama cousins. Also saw my recently-returned Nevada cousins (they just moved back to Texas). Spent an hour working on my uncle's computer, played Halo 3 with one of my 2nd cousins, ate more food than I thought humanly possible, played my first-ever game of Trouble (my 5 and 7 year old second cousins taught me), visited and had a blast.

Today I took two angry cats to the vet. Serabi is SO freaking loud - it's actually painful to my ears to be cooped up in a car with her because she caterwauls non-stop. She had a scratch on her eye from one of the other cats and we'd been treating her 3 times a day with eye drops. She got a clean check-up today though, so no more drops! And I took my Sheba in for a check-up and she also got a clean bill of health *cheer*.

Getting ready for the BIG party.

And as for that paper... uhm... well... *cough*
*sigh*

But family and fun! Yay!?

Up-to-date

Let's see... Made several calls to the tv/internet company, waited around yesterday for the plumber to come replace our broken garbage disposal, and today they came back to replace the water heater that died last night. I spent all day today working outside; blowing leaves around the backyard, cleaning out the junk, sorting through things in the garage, cleaning up the driveway, and emptying out the "green room" (like a sun room).

Went bowling tonight with my dad. We both had a lot of fun. I beat him in the first game by 19 pins and he beat me in the second game by 49 pins. Not bad seeing as he hadn't bowled in about 30 years. I would have gone for a tie-breaker but I was exbausted after my cleaning spree.

I have managed to get a little work done on my paper, but not nearly enough.

Need to finish preparing for lunch on Christmas day - at our house. I think I'm heading to my aunt and uncle's on Christmas Eve.

Ugh. Too much effort to keep going on my iPod Touch.
More later.
Happy Holidays and safe travels.

Serabi

I have started researching for my Research Paper. Oofda. I hope to get a sizable chunk of it done before I go home.

Making plans for Christmas dinner (at our house this year) and for the Holiday party my parents are having on the 29th.

Oh... and as promised, a couple of pictures of Serabi. She's hardly ever in one place for very long and when she is, it's because she's sleeping. I'll try to get some better pics and a video before I leave.

Texas... again

Back home for the Holidays.

Nice and cool here. It's 38 degrees and feels like 28. Everyone here is freezing and I'm loving it. There's no snow, but otherwise it's not so bad. Beats last year when it was in the 90's. Ugh!

Brought Sheba home with me and she hasn't left my bedroom since we arrived. She doesn't want anything to do with the other two cats, though she does sniff the dog when he comes in my room. I wonder what she thinks about being drug back and forth between Minnesota and Texas. She does seem less traumatized by flying with me than she was when I "abandoned" her over Thanksgiving.

I'll post some pics (and maybe video) of the new kitty next time I blog. Promise :)
She's.... freaky... wild... cute... lovable... S T R A N G E...
You can follow her down the hall and into a room and when you look in the room she's nowhere to be found. Then you turn around and she's standing right behind you. And you have NO freaking clue how she got there. It's CREEPY... almost like she can teleport. LOL. Seriously.

When she looks straight at you she kind of cocks her head to one side. That combined with her the shape of her face and here eyes... well she looks like a wild animal. But she's super-duper lovable and sweet as can be.

She's always in motion; prowling, exploring, climbing behind things, and rubbing against you, the carpet, the furniture...

Ceramics

I made a total of 57 pieces. I showed my first two bowls and I'm saving some for presents for Mom and Dad - will post pics of them afterwards.

Below are a bunch of pictures of my stuff... I tried to lump them together in a way that makes sense... at least it makes sense to me!

Raku pots. It's a different style of firing.




Plates.


Less-than-gorgeous plates.



Bowls.





Lidded forms.


Pinch pots - hand made by pinching (not wheel thrown).



Cylindrical forms.



Mugs.



Two tiny bowls. People teased me saying I made a Saki bowl and a shot glass. *shrug*


A bottle and pitcher forms.


A four-piece set of bottle/bowls.


Slam pots. Slabs of clay thrown on different surfaces, hollowed out and in one case carved out. The rectangular one I carved out NZ symbols and it was Soda fired.



And my slab constructed, stylized fish hook. It's like my necklace I got in NZ. It was 23.5" high I first assembled it. The final size is just shy of 21".

Christmas Time

Borrowed this from Amber.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I usually use bags, but for Christmas I go Old School = Wrapping paper.
2. Tree--Real or Artificial? When I was growing up we always had a real tree. Then I developed allergies to them - itchy skin. They always made Mom sneeze, so we went artificial.
3. When do you put the Christmas tree up? My little tree in my apt went up Nov. 18th and I put my parents tree up as soon as I go home. This year was the day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? When my Mom tells me I have to :(
5. Like egg nog? Yuck... no thank you.
6. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope.
7. Favorite gift received as a child? Oh man... That's an impossible question. I remember the feeling when I got my electronic piano/keyboard and a stable for My Little Ponies.
8. Hardest person to buy for? My parents. They want something - they buy it.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Aya.
10. Worst Christmas present? Can't think of any.
11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? In person or mail. Don't send a lot of cards.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? White Christmas.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? *cough* I'm a last-minute shopper.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.
15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Mom's mashed potatoes.
16. Clear or colored tree lights? Clear.
17. Favorite Christmas Songs? "White Christmas"
18. Travel during Christmas or Stay home? Travel. I live in MN and my family lives in TX. I go to them.
19. Can you name Santa's reindeer? Wow... Yeah I can.
20. Angel or Star on Tree top? Angel.
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve.