I'm sitting on the couch while the boys watch Get Smart. They think the movie is funny, I get to drool over Anne Hathaway. Everyone wins! Snow is falling, great big flakes, and although I'd like to drive over to Alterra's to clear my head, I don't think traveling on a day like today is worthwhile. Maybe later. I've packages for the automatic post office machine, too, although they won't leave town until Tuesday because of tomorrow's holiday.
The last part of this week sucked. I pulled a twelve hour day Thursday then turned around and drove to Appleton Friday morning. Well, I didn't drive, I was one of seven van passengers on the way to a potential development meeting up in Fox Valley. At least I got the front seat on the way back. The weekend, however, has been pretty good. We've watched a slew of Castle episodes. Yesterday T and I sifted through Borders' remains and I picked up Murakami's After Dark and a cool book on west coast punk. Right now brownies are baking. You know what's fun? Melting chocolate squares. That's what's fun.
I'm working on my breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Breathing calms me down, really, like washing my hands with warm water. I still feel tense nearly all the time. I'm not sure what to do with it. Meditate more, sure. My discipline with meditation is suspect. When should I meditate? Night? Morning? After work? Maybe after work would go well.
I've been listening to Jonsi's solo album and I finished the Great Plains review. Maybe I should go for a walk.
Ok, more later. The boys are laughing at the movie, Mack is sleeping next to me, and I smell brownies. In about an hour I'm going to drizzle melted butterscotch on the brownies. Later I'll lift weights. Life is good.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
I'm at the dining room table, 4:38PM. I just watched another Fairly Legal episode...felt like the first time I sat down all day. Before that I lifted weights, before that I made a cake (I need to get better at getting the round ones out of pans without breaking them) and frosting, before that...not sure what I did, just busy. Oh, laundry, too. I want to take a bath soon. I'll have to make sure S and N don't argue about Halo while I'm in there, though...nothing worse than being in the bath and getting out early to mediate a dispute.
Well, from what I can tell the Frank Lloyd Wright show was good but I saw it at about 400 miles an hour because of the boys. N was the only interested child. They had magnifying glasses you could use to inspect the drawings up close, then models of the drawings nearby, and N had fun looking at the drawings under the magnifying glass then figuring out which part of the model matched the drawing. The other two were in "can we go?" mode pretty much from the start. Oh well. We also went in the basement because the boys didn't see that last time. Oh! And the suitcase with the dreams is back on the floor. I got S to take a picture of me before cliffs of Dover, too. Maybe I'll make that my facebook pic. I need a new one. Anyway, we were maybe there an hour, tops. At least the weather is great...mid-forties and sunny, a near fifty degree swing from a week or so past.
This weekend has been fine. Friday night I crashed early. Saturday morning T was over at a friend's house, recovering from a sleepover, while N and M were at some boy scouts event. S and I hit Dockside Deli for breakfast (he doesn't want to go to Harry's, he finds old diners creepy) then read at Smith Brothers until the bright sunlight drove us out. We drove around the neighborhood until T was ready for pickup. The rest of the day was fine...I read a lot, watched Fairly Legal with M, and cleaned the house. Later M and I got dinner at the Milwaukee Ale House. I had to talk a waitress into giving us a good table. Apparently the restaurant takes reservations and the Valentines traffic was heavy. Well, the traffic was supposed to be heavy but the space was pretty much empty while we ate. We were early, though. I'm renewing M's Health magazine subscription, by the way, and I made her a cake, so, well, double presents. She got me headphones. I needed them.
Tomorrow the boys are off of school (not sure why) so I'm planning on hitting a coffee shop early, working until M has to leave, then hanging out with the boys until I need to leave myself for an 11:30 meeting. After that I promised a colleague I would go to mass, then I have a 1:30 meeting. Then I'll hang out later, I think, and get things done. I've been staying later at work lately. Often I'm hellbent on getting on the road not long after class ends but the calm, quiet hours past 3PM have been productive. Plus, the boys usually want to play video games right after school so there's no reason for me to tear ass home.
A few bullet points:
I'm enjoying Frazier's Great Plains. I probably won't travel much this summer but I'd love to get back to the Badlands or maybe even hit the North Dakotan set.
I'm on a big Velvet Underground kick.
I've spent less time online lately. That's been good, I think.
Ok, more later. The bath is calling. Good night.
Well, from what I can tell the Frank Lloyd Wright show was good but I saw it at about 400 miles an hour because of the boys. N was the only interested child. They had magnifying glasses you could use to inspect the drawings up close, then models of the drawings nearby, and N had fun looking at the drawings under the magnifying glass then figuring out which part of the model matched the drawing. The other two were in "can we go?" mode pretty much from the start. Oh well. We also went in the basement because the boys didn't see that last time. Oh! And the suitcase with the dreams is back on the floor. I got S to take a picture of me before cliffs of Dover, too. Maybe I'll make that my facebook pic. I need a new one. Anyway, we were maybe there an hour, tops. At least the weather is great...mid-forties and sunny, a near fifty degree swing from a week or so past.
This weekend has been fine. Friday night I crashed early. Saturday morning T was over at a friend's house, recovering from a sleepover, while N and M were at some boy scouts event. S and I hit Dockside Deli for breakfast (he doesn't want to go to Harry's, he finds old diners creepy) then read at Smith Brothers until the bright sunlight drove us out. We drove around the neighborhood until T was ready for pickup. The rest of the day was fine...I read a lot, watched Fairly Legal with M, and cleaned the house. Later M and I got dinner at the Milwaukee Ale House. I had to talk a waitress into giving us a good table. Apparently the restaurant takes reservations and the Valentines traffic was heavy. Well, the traffic was supposed to be heavy but the space was pretty much empty while we ate. We were early, though. I'm renewing M's Health magazine subscription, by the way, and I made her a cake, so, well, double presents. She got me headphones. I needed them.
Tomorrow the boys are off of school (not sure why) so I'm planning on hitting a coffee shop early, working until M has to leave, then hanging out with the boys until I need to leave myself for an 11:30 meeting. After that I promised a colleague I would go to mass, then I have a 1:30 meeting. Then I'll hang out later, I think, and get things done. I've been staying later at work lately. Often I'm hellbent on getting on the road not long after class ends but the calm, quiet hours past 3PM have been productive. Plus, the boys usually want to play video games right after school so there's no reason for me to tear ass home.
A few bullet points:
I'm enjoying Frazier's Great Plains. I probably won't travel much this summer but I'd love to get back to the Badlands or maybe even hit the North Dakotan set.
I'm on a big Velvet Underground kick.
I've spent less time online lately. That's been good, I think.
Ok, more later. The bath is calling. Good night.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Why hello, loyal blog readers. I'm on the bed in a messy room (the boys', not mine). T is resting his head against my legs while he watches Netflixed (is that a verb?) Psych episodes. S is on Xbox. M and N are at N's swimming lessons. In a couple minutes I'm making dinner but I thought I'd write as the journal has been on my mind but I seem about five feet and ten minutes away from writing just about all the time.
By the way, today's one of the coldest days of the year, take two, if you will, as we thought the coldest day of the year would be a couple weeks back. Tonight's wind chills are meant to hit negative twenty-five. Yay. I picked a good week to get sick and take time off from the gym because walking through the yard at 4:45AM would suck. At least the sun was out today, so bright I had to close my office blinds.
The week has been pretty good, despite the Packers' super bowl win. I'm breathing, trying to meditate, etc. My students are a tougher this semester. Or maybe I'm reading them wrong. It's a good test for me, I guess, you know, to remember what real teaching is like, with students talking on the side and questioning field experience placements or whatever. I'm way ahead as far as planning is concerned. This morning I wrote up an activity for a student teaching seminar that doesn't take place for eight days. I'm already pretty much planned for next week's ASL one, too. I've picked up a few long-term projects that have been in the back of my mind and I should get down to the students' classes just to check-in with some I haven't seen in a while. I know the spring semester is a long, evil stretch. Anything I can do to head off problems early will be to everyone's advantage.
Did I mention Corey and I got coffee Friday night? I don't leave the house much but that was fun. He was running late so I hit the small Mequon bookstore for twenty minutes or so before we met at Panera's. I like Friday nights at bookstores. No rush. Then we work-gossiped for a couple hours and I drank way too much coffee and probably could have stayed until 2AM.
I finished a book on librarians called This Book Is Overdue. Eh. Review forthcoming. Now I'm reading Frazier's book on the great plains. We finished another Castle disc and, assuming accurate Netflix math, we should get another Saturday. Good timing. My sinuses are going bonkers but I've salvaged enough energy every day to rise, teach my ass off, and return home. I know I'm sick because I don't feel like working out even though I haven't visited the gym or lifted a weight since Sunday. I'm feeling the first waves of the desire to move. Maybe Friday. Friday morning I have a doctor's appointment before I drive down to MAM for the members' preview of the new Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit. Here's a link.:
http://mam.org/frank-lloyd-wright/
Maybe I'll work out after the museum. Or I could drive to the Milwaukee Public Market, always lovely on cold, sunny days, for lunch. Or I could return home, crawl into my pajamas, and prepare for a slow weekend with books. And I need Cacti soil, too. Whatever works. I'm ok with being alive today, even though the sky feels about three feet above my head and I know I'm in a precarious place.
Time to make dinner. Good night.
By the way, today's one of the coldest days of the year, take two, if you will, as we thought the coldest day of the year would be a couple weeks back. Tonight's wind chills are meant to hit negative twenty-five. Yay. I picked a good week to get sick and take time off from the gym because walking through the yard at 4:45AM would suck. At least the sun was out today, so bright I had to close my office blinds.
The week has been pretty good, despite the Packers' super bowl win. I'm breathing, trying to meditate, etc. My students are a tougher this semester. Or maybe I'm reading them wrong. It's a good test for me, I guess, you know, to remember what real teaching is like, with students talking on the side and questioning field experience placements or whatever. I'm way ahead as far as planning is concerned. This morning I wrote up an activity for a student teaching seminar that doesn't take place for eight days. I'm already pretty much planned for next week's ASL one, too. I've picked up a few long-term projects that have been in the back of my mind and I should get down to the students' classes just to check-in with some I haven't seen in a while. I know the spring semester is a long, evil stretch. Anything I can do to head off problems early will be to everyone's advantage.
Did I mention Corey and I got coffee Friday night? I don't leave the house much but that was fun. He was running late so I hit the small Mequon bookstore for twenty minutes or so before we met at Panera's. I like Friday nights at bookstores. No rush. Then we work-gossiped for a couple hours and I drank way too much coffee and probably could have stayed until 2AM.
I finished a book on librarians called This Book Is Overdue. Eh. Review forthcoming. Now I'm reading Frazier's book on the great plains. We finished another Castle disc and, assuming accurate Netflix math, we should get another Saturday. Good timing. My sinuses are going bonkers but I've salvaged enough energy every day to rise, teach my ass off, and return home. I know I'm sick because I don't feel like working out even though I haven't visited the gym or lifted a weight since Sunday. I'm feeling the first waves of the desire to move. Maybe Friday. Friday morning I have a doctor's appointment before I drive down to MAM for the members' preview of the new Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit. Here's a link.:
http://mam.org/frank-lloyd-wright/
Maybe I'll work out after the museum. Or I could drive to the Milwaukee Public Market, always lovely on cold, sunny days, for lunch. Or I could return home, crawl into my pajamas, and prepare for a slow weekend with books. And I need Cacti soil, too. Whatever works. I'm ok with being alive today, even though the sky feels about three feet above my head and I know I'm in a precarious place.
Time to make dinner. Good night.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
2/2/11 Wednesday 4:40PM
Today's Groundhog Day but I think most people forgot because of the snow. Starting Sunday night the forecasters predicted a hellacious storm of the “snow combined with high winds equals zero visibility” kind. Honestly, I can't speak one way or the other for the peak conditions because they hit in the middle of the night. Campus was wired yesterday with news of the potential closing and I had fun interrupting meetings and walking through the halls with the news that we were shutting down at 2. Then I drove home, stopping at Costco on the way, and settled in for the night. I had a couple beers but didn't get drunk because last time I I needed thirty-six hours to recover and I didn't want to waste a snow day on a hangover.
This morning N and I were up by six-thirty. We watched some of the early snow coverage (don't you think that must get boring for the newscasters after a while, pretty much repeating “it's snowing, stay inside” for eight hours in a row?) before I made cinnamon rolls, took a shower, and started laundry. I made fudge/oatmeal bars. By nine the sun was out, full power, and the reflection off the bright white snow left the landscape glowing. I walked downtown past people shoveling or snowblowing. The northeast wind traveled hard and fast but I wasn't cold, really, and definitely not in the “I need to get out of this weather now” state. The walk was fun, really. I didn't expect the library open, and they were closed, but Java Dock and Tello's were both staffed. I tied my shoes while a teenage girl made me a JD latte. She said the morning was slow and earlier, before dawn, visibility was difficult. I finished the latte on the return trip then helped M shovel out the stretch from the garage door to the alley. After lunch I decided I was trying to cram too much into the snow day so I took a long bath with the Siberia book, finished Machete, and here I am.
In a couple minutes I”m going to meditate. More later. Tomorrow we're due for the post-storm cold front, near zero. Long day at work. I'm ahead, however, with planning, so I need to breathe and stay calm and change the “always tense” pattern. Meditation. Now. Good night. Stay warm. Within a couple hours I'll be under the blankets with a book, the way winter nights should pass.
Today's Groundhog Day but I think most people forgot because of the snow. Starting Sunday night the forecasters predicted a hellacious storm of the “snow combined with high winds equals zero visibility” kind. Honestly, I can't speak one way or the other for the peak conditions because they hit in the middle of the night. Campus was wired yesterday with news of the potential closing and I had fun interrupting meetings and walking through the halls with the news that we were shutting down at 2. Then I drove home, stopping at Costco on the way, and settled in for the night. I had a couple beers but didn't get drunk because last time I I needed thirty-six hours to recover and I didn't want to waste a snow day on a hangover.
This morning N and I were up by six-thirty. We watched some of the early snow coverage (don't you think that must get boring for the newscasters after a while, pretty much repeating “it's snowing, stay inside” for eight hours in a row?) before I made cinnamon rolls, took a shower, and started laundry. I made fudge/oatmeal bars. By nine the sun was out, full power, and the reflection off the bright white snow left the landscape glowing. I walked downtown past people shoveling or snowblowing. The northeast wind traveled hard and fast but I wasn't cold, really, and definitely not in the “I need to get out of this weather now” state. The walk was fun, really. I didn't expect the library open, and they were closed, but Java Dock and Tello's were both staffed. I tied my shoes while a teenage girl made me a JD latte. She said the morning was slow and earlier, before dawn, visibility was difficult. I finished the latte on the return trip then helped M shovel out the stretch from the garage door to the alley. After lunch I decided I was trying to cram too much into the snow day so I took a long bath with the Siberia book, finished Machete, and here I am.
In a couple minutes I”m going to meditate. More later. Tomorrow we're due for the post-storm cold front, near zero. Long day at work. I'm ahead, however, with planning, so I need to breathe and stay calm and change the “always tense” pattern. Meditation. Now. Good night. Stay warm. Within a couple hours I'll be under the blankets with a book, the way winter nights should pass.
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