What's new with you? I want to know.
With me?
My sister Beth and her husband Alfredo welcomed a delightful new addition, baby Isaac, into their family at the beginning of the month. Yay!
Esther came to visit from England for about two weeks. We went to New York City. We went to Chicago. We turned 32. We ate and ate and ate. We laughed almost non-stop. I was sad to say goodbye.
My classes are kicking my butt, but in a good way; kicking me into shape intellectually. I feel as if I am slowly being shaped into a better scholar and a better thinker. With the exception of one class which is fairly dull, I am being challenged and pushed. As part of my undergraduate research training scholarship I am working with a faculty member who looks at teachers who become sexually involved with their students. I am delving into Shakespeare more deeply than ever before. I am researching medieval drama. I am learning data analysis and research methodology. I am soaking up brilliant literature and finding that my Current Political Ideologies class, in which we discuss philosophy and psychology more than we do politics, is really just inexpensive therapy. I love it all. This kind of stuff makes me love being a student.
Love it so much, apparently, that I am studying (in theory -- certainly not in practice) for the GRE so that I can -- with luck -- get accepted into the Master's program that I'm eyeing.
I am also, for the fifth time, teaching a class for gifted students through Purdue's Gifted Education Research Institute.
No matter how busy I am, my little ones -- as enchanting as ever -- still need me just as much. They also need those pesky quotidian necessities such as food, clean clothes, rides to activities and friends' houses, and someone to listen to the stories of their day. I'm not going to lie: finding a balance is hard. Fortunately, my little world is full of very supportive people and I am not afraid to admit to my limitations. I can call my mother-in-law, tell her I need help, and know that she will be willing to get on a plane and take over the reins at home for a while. She arrives in about two weeks.
Photos of Esther's visit to follow. In the meantime, here's a taste of NYC.
This is the kind of thinking that makes our country great:
This is the boy who is heading into those tricky teenage years as the same superlative person that he's always been.
This is the person who taught me to be selfless and showed me that the love a parent has for a child transcends all.
Basically, I adore him.
I love seeing him every single day. I wouldn't wish a minute of it away. (Yes, even those minutes at 11pm when I'm helping him finish homework due tomorrow...)
- My camera is gathering dust on the dining room floor
- My for-pleasure reading has given up hope of so much as even a glance in its direction
- When I accomplish one thing, get something under my belt, I move immediately onto the next most pressing item and it just doesn't end.
But, I am staying pretty on top of school work and house work and being a good mother (thus far), and can't even remember the last time I threatened a nervous breakdown. That must be progress.
When I was in England I ate heavenly cupcakes from Marks & Spencers.
Raspberry and white chocolate, and lemon meringue.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I have thought about them every. single. day. since.
Who says I'm an obsessive person?
as long as they're in it.
Libby modeling a sari at last weekend's Globelfest
Jesse, after setting a 3K PB today
We have five versions of Trivial Pursuit. I remember a time when Todd and I used to play Trivial Pursuit every. single. day. We had a brand-new baby and a toddler. Todd was finishing his Bachelor's degree and that was our entertainment. Good times. I miss sitting cross-legged on our bedroom floor, board in between us, after the kids had gone down for the night. Ah, nostalgia. Of course, the way I remember it is that I always won. (Actually, what would really happen would be that we would both have all of our pie pieces except the Sports one. We knew from experience that we'd be there a month of Sundays trying to answer a sports question correctly so we'd call it a draw. That's why if you ever team up for Trivial Pursuit you should try to finagle the sports buff onto your team.)
No Googling. That's just cheating.
EDIT: Correct answers in red
Card #1: Pop Culture edition
Movies: What fictional college is the setting for Revenge of the Nerds?
TV: According to Chuck Woolery, how long until Love Connection would be back from a commercial break? Two and two
Music: What was the stage name of the Dead Kennedys' lead singer?
Sports & Games: What heavyweight champ enlisted in the Marines in 1997, only to drop out 11 days later?
Buzz: Which of the actors that played James Bond once competed in a Mr. Universe contest? Sean Connery
Fads: Which former heavyweight boxing champ now boasts the top-selling home grill? George Foreman
Card # 2: Book Lovers edition
Children's Books: What siblings have solved more than 70 mysteries since 1904, in such exotic locales as Pilgrim Rock, Eskimo Land and Whitesail Harbor?
Classics: What Frenchman's 1898 novel Le Superbe Orinoque was not published in English until 2003? Jules Verne
Non-Fiction: What writer spiced up his travel books with exotic titles like Jaguars Ripped My Flesh and A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg?
Book Club: What novel did Graham Greene write four years before The Third Man, but print 37 years after it?
Authors: What cousin of the Duke of Wellington published Jumping the Queue, the first of her racy romances, at age 70?
Book Bag: What is child tactician Andrew Wiggin's better-known nickname, in Orson Scott Card's novels? Ender
Card #3: Family edition
People & Places: What side dish do residents of Quebec smother in cheese curds and gravy, and call poutine? French fries
Entertainment: Who did Bette Midler introduce at Philadelphia Live Aid as: "A woman who pulled herself up by her bra-straps"? Madonna
History: What Asian city suffered a 84-mile-long traffic jam in 1990? Tokyo
Wild Card: What African-American writer lost sight in one eye when a brother shot her with a B.B. gun? Alice Walker
Science & Nature: What does the average koala do for twenty-two hours of the day? Sleep
Sports & Leisure: Which 2000 Olympic event included eight beautifully made-up twins among the forty-eight competitors in its pairs event? Synchronized swimming
Card #4: Genus IV edition
People & Places: What two Hungarian towns on either side of the Danube merged in 1872? Buda and Pest
Art & Entertainment: What calypso singer founded the USA For Africa charity that recorded We Are the World? Harry Belafonte
History: What nation's 90-man army is the world's oldest, dating back to 1506? Vatican City
Science & Nature: What word was coined when a trapped moth caused an early computer to crash? Bug
Sports & Leisure: What gymnastics guru did author Joan Ryan call "the high priest of insensitivity"? Bela Karolyi
Wild Card: What beautiful young man was a personal favorite of Aphrodite and Persephone? Adonis
Card # 5: Genus V edition
People & Places: What Southeastern state leads the U.S. in obese people per capita, according to the CDC? Mississippi
Art & Entertainment: Who had a hankerin' for Clarice Starling, in a 1988 novel? Hannibal Lecter
History: What future First Lady was the first to make a Spanish-language ad to score the Latino vote for her hubby? Jackie Kennedy
Science & Nature: What's the largest single crop in the U.S., measured in raw acreage?
Sports & Leisure: What golf course had the "only dogleg par 3 in the world" until additional cliff land was purchased in the 1990s? Pebble Beach
Wild Card: Who did Allen Ginsberg call "a French Canadian Hinayana Buddist Beat Catholic Savant"? Jack Kerouac
