Okay, so I've been around a couple cute kids in the last month. I love kids. I find them adorable and intelligent and it's so awesome to be able to work with them like molding clay or (as is the case with Connor) Play Doh.
I've always known that I wanted to be a mom. I was the eldest, so I was always the babysitter. When I want to be a mom is a different story.
Desi told me a couple days ago that she had a dream and I was in it (big surprise, haha). It was her wedding, and I was the matron of honor (and I know Neha was a maid/matron of honor as well, though which, I'm not sure). And then she mentioned that I was also hugely pregnant.
It was then that I realized that if I were ever to become pregnant, my initial reaction would be, for lack of a better word, horrified. I guess that's my upbringing, having a young mom, coming from a long line of "16 and Pregnant" sort of family. Becoming pregnant was the worst thing that could happen to a girl, short of dying, I suppose. I was going to say that it would be the worst thing that could happen to a girl still in high school, but then I realized that I still think it's the worst thing that could happen to a woman at any age. Or maybe just me at any age.
It's ingrained in me. I want kids. But the process of getting one (or more??)? Not so appealing.
My mom always told me that she wants better for me, that she doesn't want me to end up like her, that she wants me to be better than her. Well, I'm 22, still not a mom and a college graduate, so I'm already there, in her mind at least. So I guess that's where my reaction comes from.
I'm just not sure how to deal with it. I'm sure the whole "biological clock ticking" when a woman reaches about 30 years of age will probably happen. And that sounds about right. I wouldn't want a kid when I'm still trying to figure out my life, going to school, trying to get a job in a field that I'm genuinely interested in, etc. I could definitely wait 8 more years. Thank god I have cousins who are already parents so I don't get pressure from my grandparents about wanting great grandbabies. George's family on the other hand... I hope they aren't holding their breath.
Is it wrong to have a reflex reaction of horror to the thought of being pregnant?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
A whale of a tale and it's all true
I swear by my tattoo!
You know the semester's in the swing of things when I get nightmares about teaching. Last night the dream was me teaching this coming week's lab, only I for some reason was teaching at 2 pm and I was 3 minutes late. A tv was on in the corner and I was unable to turn it off, or turn the volume down. My students were paying attention more to the tv than me, and eventually I tried to at least change the channel so that there would only be white noise because for some reason unplugging the thing did no good. And then it was stuck on a channel with a Zac Efron movie (I'm pretty sure whatever movie it was was concocted by my imagination, but I got a weird sense of deja vu). I then said screw it, you're on your own, and if you have any questions, I will not be answering them because you're all too busy paying attention to the tv. End what I remember of the dream.
I have the feeling that this is me feeling some residual anger from what happened on Friday. Which is this:
My Wednesday classes are awesome. They show up 10 minutes early, and appear to have at least read the lab so they look like they know what they're doing. My Friday class drags their feet. A couple students showed up halfway into quiz time. A couple students didn't show up at all. And then. I have a student show up (who isn't mine) saying that he missed his lab earlier in the week, and talked to his professor who said that he could just show up to any of the Friday labs and it would be fine.
Um. Excuse me??
#1) Professors have no right to say when students can make up labs. Professors have nothing to do with the labs. So what makes them think that they can just send anyone to whatever lab?
#2) We as TAs have a system for making up labs, for those of us who allow make up labs. That system means that the student talks TO THEIR TA and not their professor who has nothing to do with the labs. The TA then talks to the other TAs that have labs when the student can make up the assignments to see if there's room. If there's no room, some other form of make up work is given. END OF STORY.
#3) Some classes are literally full, and there are no seats available (case in point, all three of my classes). Luckily for the dude that showed up, some of my students didn't so there was actually a spot for him to do work.
I was so caught off guard, I should have said too bad, I don't know if all of my students are coming. But I didn't. Next time I will know better.
That's just story number 1. Number 2 goes like this:
Student comes to class and says that this is his first class, what should he do? Um. I dunno. Maybe you should have emailed me beforehand. Cause there's work due today. Again. Caught off guard. Told him that he can talk to me after class about what to do. Gave him a paper to read and write a summary of. And then told him the what's what about class. Said that if you do this again in another class, you may have a TA who won't give a shit and say, you get to take the quiz, you should have emailed me to see if there was something you missed the first week of class.
There was something really odd about how he spoke. Like a surfer who lost too many brain cells. Think Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Kind of annoying.
In other news. I'm really excited about this week's recipes! We just went to the grocery store to stock up for the following:
Cajun Pecan-Crusted Catfish, served with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes
Indian-Spiced Chicken Pitas (I couldn't find the Indian spice indicated in the recipe, so we're substituting a Greek seasoning. Damn you HEB!)
Baked Mac N Cheese
Chili with cornbread and collard greens
I spent a lot of time going through EatingWell.com last night looking for healthy but tasty meals. We already made smoky stuffed peppers and spaghetti with quick meat sauce this past week. Very diet friendly.
I also found that trying to instantly cut 500 calories from your eating routine is really hard. The first class I teach on Wednesdays is from 11 to 1, and right around 11:45 I could feel my blood sugar drop. I was starving, my head was hurting, and generally I felt sick. I tried to progressively cut back on the calories and I think so far it's working. I'm doing a lot better at portion control, and snacking a bit less.
We tried walking around Wolf Pen Creek again yesterday morning because I overslept on Friday due to forgetting to set my alarm. And we were waiting for George to feel slightly less sick. It felt good, and my foot isn't hurting as much as it did after the first time. It hurt a bit while showering afterwards but so far not nearly as crippling. I think tomorrow we might try walking again while it's still nice outside. Stupid cold front coming in on Tuesday is supposed to drop the temperature to the 30s again.
Our 4 year anniversary was on Friday and it was beautiful outside! We pretty much skipped out on work as soon as I was done with TA stuff to walk around and drink in the sunshine. OGC happy hour at Mad Hatter's was nice. I definitely wanted to be there as soon as TA meeting was over. Had a few drinks and chatted with a few people before walking over to Cafe Eccell for dinner. I love anniversaries, they give me an excuse to order dessert! I love the chocolate strawberry tart. I just salivate thinking about it.
It was nice to do couple-y things. I think we get so caught up during the week trying to get shit done that we don't stop often enough to just be. And that's what I love the most about anniversaries. Just being. :)
You know the semester's in the swing of things when I get nightmares about teaching. Last night the dream was me teaching this coming week's lab, only I for some reason was teaching at 2 pm and I was 3 minutes late. A tv was on in the corner and I was unable to turn it off, or turn the volume down. My students were paying attention more to the tv than me, and eventually I tried to at least change the channel so that there would only be white noise because for some reason unplugging the thing did no good. And then it was stuck on a channel with a Zac Efron movie (I'm pretty sure whatever movie it was was concocted by my imagination, but I got a weird sense of deja vu). I then said screw it, you're on your own, and if you have any questions, I will not be answering them because you're all too busy paying attention to the tv. End what I remember of the dream.
I have the feeling that this is me feeling some residual anger from what happened on Friday. Which is this:
My Wednesday classes are awesome. They show up 10 minutes early, and appear to have at least read the lab so they look like they know what they're doing. My Friday class drags their feet. A couple students showed up halfway into quiz time. A couple students didn't show up at all. And then. I have a student show up (who isn't mine) saying that he missed his lab earlier in the week, and talked to his professor who said that he could just show up to any of the Friday labs and it would be fine.
Um. Excuse me??
#1) Professors have no right to say when students can make up labs. Professors have nothing to do with the labs. So what makes them think that they can just send anyone to whatever lab?
#2) We as TAs have a system for making up labs, for those of us who allow make up labs. That system means that the student talks TO THEIR TA and not their professor who has nothing to do with the labs. The TA then talks to the other TAs that have labs when the student can make up the assignments to see if there's room. If there's no room, some other form of make up work is given. END OF STORY.
#3) Some classes are literally full, and there are no seats available (case in point, all three of my classes). Luckily for the dude that showed up, some of my students didn't so there was actually a spot for him to do work.
I was so caught off guard, I should have said too bad, I don't know if all of my students are coming. But I didn't. Next time I will know better.
That's just story number 1. Number 2 goes like this:
Student comes to class and says that this is his first class, what should he do? Um. I dunno. Maybe you should have emailed me beforehand. Cause there's work due today. Again. Caught off guard. Told him that he can talk to me after class about what to do. Gave him a paper to read and write a summary of. And then told him the what's what about class. Said that if you do this again in another class, you may have a TA who won't give a shit and say, you get to take the quiz, you should have emailed me to see if there was something you missed the first week of class.
There was something really odd about how he spoke. Like a surfer who lost too many brain cells. Think Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Kind of annoying.
In other news. I'm really excited about this week's recipes! We just went to the grocery store to stock up for the following:
Cajun Pecan-Crusted Catfish, served with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes
Indian-Spiced Chicken Pitas (I couldn't find the Indian spice indicated in the recipe, so we're substituting a Greek seasoning. Damn you HEB!)
Baked Mac N Cheese
Chili with cornbread and collard greens
I spent a lot of time going through EatingWell.com last night looking for healthy but tasty meals. We already made smoky stuffed peppers and spaghetti with quick meat sauce this past week. Very diet friendly.
I also found that trying to instantly cut 500 calories from your eating routine is really hard. The first class I teach on Wednesdays is from 11 to 1, and right around 11:45 I could feel my blood sugar drop. I was starving, my head was hurting, and generally I felt sick. I tried to progressively cut back on the calories and I think so far it's working. I'm doing a lot better at portion control, and snacking a bit less.
We tried walking around Wolf Pen Creek again yesterday morning because I overslept on Friday due to forgetting to set my alarm. And we were waiting for George to feel slightly less sick. It felt good, and my foot isn't hurting as much as it did after the first time. It hurt a bit while showering afterwards but so far not nearly as crippling. I think tomorrow we might try walking again while it's still nice outside. Stupid cold front coming in on Tuesday is supposed to drop the temperature to the 30s again.
Our 4 year anniversary was on Friday and it was beautiful outside! We pretty much skipped out on work as soon as I was done with TA stuff to walk around and drink in the sunshine. OGC happy hour at Mad Hatter's was nice. I definitely wanted to be there as soon as TA meeting was over. Had a few drinks and chatted with a few people before walking over to Cafe Eccell for dinner. I love anniversaries, they give me an excuse to order dessert! I love the chocolate strawberry tart. I just salivate thinking about it.
It was nice to do couple-y things. I think we get so caught up during the week trying to get shit done that we don't stop often enough to just be. And that's what I love the most about anniversaries. Just being. :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
It's not even the first lab yet!
Oh students.
How can I possibly say that phrase before having to actually teach a lab? I do believe I was feeling the same way last semester. Only I think the questions were a bit more stupid last semester.
"Oh, you mean I didn't have to ask you where the class is and at what time because you wrote it in the email that I'm replying to? Really? I had to read that?"
And this gem "Where's the e-manuel located?"
Ahem. You mean the E-MANUAL that is located in the tab at the top of the page in big letters labeled E-MANUAL. Right next to the other tab in big letters labeled "LAB QUESTIONS" which I know you were able to figure out because you did the damn pre lab assignment.
This semester it's "I bought the access code, but I didn't receive the username and password, and when I try to recover that information it says that I'm not in the system. PLZ HELP I'M SO STRESSED OUT RITE NOW."
Thanks for emailing me that, dear student. The night before class. When I told you, oh, a week and a half ago, and again in class last week, that this web-based textbook is REQUIRED for EVERYTHING WE DO. And I seem to recall telling you all not to wait until the last minute to do these assignments. Your 19 other classmates seem to have no problem following that instruction.
But I guess there's always one.
*facepalm*
How can I possibly say that phrase before having to actually teach a lab? I do believe I was feeling the same way last semester. Only I think the questions were a bit more stupid last semester.
"Oh, you mean I didn't have to ask you where the class is and at what time because you wrote it in the email that I'm replying to? Really? I had to read that?"
And this gem "Where's the e-manuel located?"
Ahem. You mean the E-MANUAL that is located in the tab at the top of the page in big letters labeled E-MANUAL. Right next to the other tab in big letters labeled "LAB QUESTIONS" which I know you were able to figure out because you did the damn pre lab assignment.
This semester it's "I bought the access code, but I didn't receive the username and password, and when I try to recover that information it says that I'm not in the system. PLZ HELP I'M SO STRESSED OUT RITE NOW."
Thanks for emailing me that, dear student. The night before class. When I told you, oh, a week and a half ago, and again in class last week, that this web-based textbook is REQUIRED for EVERYTHING WE DO. And I seem to recall telling you all not to wait until the last minute to do these assignments. Your 19 other classmates seem to have no problem following that instruction.
But I guess there's always one.
*facepalm*
Monday, January 24, 2011
Brownies are a girl's best friend.
I can't tell you how much I want to eat something deliciously sweet and fluffy.
Brownies. Pancakes. Cake. Pancake puppies from Denny's.
I have a really bad sweet tooth and it's sooooo hard to ignore. I'm doing my best to eat fruits instead. George just made some hot chocolate so that will have to do. Sigh.
We did make this super awesome recipe for dinner tonight. I love stuffed peppers. I have a recipe for it in my Betty Crocker cookbook, but this one was SO much better. The color in it was beautiful and actually, more tasty. (Tastier? meh.)
Walked around Wolf Pen Creek this morning again, though significantly shorter than last week due to my foot. But it still felt good. I'm not sure if I'm imagining the difference in how I look in the mirror. There's definitely a little less pudge! I love the balance ball we bought. It's so much fun to sit on and actually it feels better to sit on that than the couch. I hurt my tailbone when I was in 6th grade and ever since it has never been comfortable to sit for very long. But the balance ball is wonderful! Works out my back and it's fun to try to keep balance without slipping forward or backwards and off the ball.
I've been in denial about doing work today. This is not a good way to start off the new semester. Sigh. Tomorrow I actually have work to do. I'm also in denial about the pile of dishes that are sitting and waiting to be cleaned.
I finished two of the books that I got from Staci over Christmas, and there's many many many more to go. I'm not sure when I'll be able to read for pleasure again, but it is my goal to read the Barnes and Noble Classics. Still making my way through The Scarlet Letter, and next I should probably finish Alice in Wonderland. I keep starting them, putting them down and picking them up months later. I got a copy of The Arabian Nights after seeing a production in Berkeley. I think it'll be nice to have as a source for bedtime stories ^_^
I'm looking forward to looking through my ocean book for the first lab of the semester! The pictures are phenomenal and I really want my kids to be excited :)
Anyways. Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight than I did last night (aka this morning).
Brownies. Pancakes. Cake. Pancake puppies from Denny's.
I have a really bad sweet tooth and it's sooooo hard to ignore. I'm doing my best to eat fruits instead. George just made some hot chocolate so that will have to do. Sigh.
We did make this super awesome recipe for dinner tonight. I love stuffed peppers. I have a recipe for it in my Betty Crocker cookbook, but this one was SO much better. The color in it was beautiful and actually, more tasty. (Tastier? meh.)
Walked around Wolf Pen Creek this morning again, though significantly shorter than last week due to my foot. But it still felt good. I'm not sure if I'm imagining the difference in how I look in the mirror. There's definitely a little less pudge! I love the balance ball we bought. It's so much fun to sit on and actually it feels better to sit on that than the couch. I hurt my tailbone when I was in 6th grade and ever since it has never been comfortable to sit for very long. But the balance ball is wonderful! Works out my back and it's fun to try to keep balance without slipping forward or backwards and off the ball.
I've been in denial about doing work today. This is not a good way to start off the new semester. Sigh. Tomorrow I actually have work to do. I'm also in denial about the pile of dishes that are sitting and waiting to be cleaned.
I finished two of the books that I got from Staci over Christmas, and there's many many many more to go. I'm not sure when I'll be able to read for pleasure again, but it is my goal to read the Barnes and Noble Classics. Still making my way through The Scarlet Letter, and next I should probably finish Alice in Wonderland. I keep starting them, putting them down and picking them up months later. I got a copy of The Arabian Nights after seeing a production in Berkeley. I think it'll be nice to have as a source for bedtime stories ^_^
I'm looking forward to looking through my ocean book for the first lab of the semester! The pictures are phenomenal and I really want my kids to be excited :)
Anyways. Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight than I did last night (aka this morning).
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The World is a Vampire
I have Bullet with Butterfly Wings stuck in my head.
First week of school is going well so far. DQ came into CS today, and she came by my office and we chatted for a while. I made sure that my degree plan was okay and submitted it. So one thing off of my checklist. Woo.
First two classes I taught were okay. I had one student not show up to my last class on Wednesday but they were actually responsible and emailed me to say that they were sick with the flu and they can show me a doctor's note if necessary. I said it wasn't (I don't really want to be in the vicinity of someone that just had the flu). But it was nice to have a student that actually took care of their business when they missed class. Just one more class to teach tomorrow morning. I think I have my introduction to the class and webcom down.
In lab we're starting a recycling drive where students can bring in the caps from various bottles (water and soda, laundry detergent, shampoo bottles, gallons of milk, etc). Basically the hard plastic caps that are not allowed in normal plastic recycling bins are being collected, which is awesome because we show in the Nekton/Benthos lab that the main trash found in the stomach of birds and turtles and on beaches are those caps. I'll to bring it up at the TA meeting tomorrow that we could possibly boost the collection by making it competitive between classes. There are about 40 classes every week. I'm not sure what we can legally provide as a prize (remember in elementary school we could get a pizza party for pop tops?), but hopefully that will encourage our students to participate in recycling.
In wedding related news: I found my dress in the College Station mall, for about the same price as I found it for in Glendale. In my overexcited state, I said that I'd be okay to purchase on Saturday. However after talking to my mom, she said that it's too soon, she needs time to save money for it and we still have 16 months until the wedding. The store said that they can get the dress in in approximately 3 months. They don't do alterations, which is fine, I can take it to a seamstress/tailor in Galveston or the Houston area when we move in May. Sigh. I don't know when to order my dress.
*thought*
Maybe I should look in my many bridal magazines and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The Knot says 8 months ahead. I dunno. I feel like whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. It's happened to me in the past.
At least I know what dress I want, right? The hard part is over.
Innnnn other news... Yesterday was George's birthday. I made him peanut butter cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting to take with him into his lab to share. Mainly because I hate peanut butter and chocolate together and we're trying to lose weight, so this way I still got to bake him his special birthday cake, he got to enjoy it, AND we don't have to keep staring at a mound of cupcakes that only he will eat. Everyone wins! I think his lab-mates love me, haha. After classes were over we went over to Terrazzo Wine and Coffee Bar where we had yummy glasses of wine and an appetizer of hummus and pita bread.
Speaking of losing weight. We started an exercise regime where we exercise on MWF in the mornings, mainly by walking around Wolf Pen Creek at an aerobic pace for about 45 minutes and doing some push ups and sit ups or something. Or if it's freezing (like it is right now) we have a bunch of yoga podcasts to warm up in the morning. Sadly though, I hurt the arch of my foot while walking on Monday, so I've been reduced to limping around O&M and the house for the past few days. What's weird is I didn't realize that my foot hurt until Tuesday, when I felt REALLY sore. Now, not so sore, but my foot is being a pain by being in pain. I was hoping to take the bus this week so that we can cut down on gas expenses and also get some of the workout that we used to get before having our own cars.
I really want a balance ball now.
The other reason why I'm confused as to when to order my dress is when I tried on the sample gown at the mall, it was the perfect size for me... a perfect "10" as it were, because that was the size. The combination of that and my jeans being a bit tighter than they used to be spurned the exercise routine. So if I'm trying to lose weight, I should probably wait a few months and see if my measurements are different. Right? Siiiiiigh.
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.
First week of school is going well so far. DQ came into CS today, and she came by my office and we chatted for a while. I made sure that my degree plan was okay and submitted it. So one thing off of my checklist. Woo.
First two classes I taught were okay. I had one student not show up to my last class on Wednesday but they were actually responsible and emailed me to say that they were sick with the flu and they can show me a doctor's note if necessary. I said it wasn't (I don't really want to be in the vicinity of someone that just had the flu). But it was nice to have a student that actually took care of their business when they missed class. Just one more class to teach tomorrow morning. I think I have my introduction to the class and webcom down.
In lab we're starting a recycling drive where students can bring in the caps from various bottles (water and soda, laundry detergent, shampoo bottles, gallons of milk, etc). Basically the hard plastic caps that are not allowed in normal plastic recycling bins are being collected, which is awesome because we show in the Nekton/Benthos lab that the main trash found in the stomach of birds and turtles and on beaches are those caps. I'll to bring it up at the TA meeting tomorrow that we could possibly boost the collection by making it competitive between classes. There are about 40 classes every week. I'm not sure what we can legally provide as a prize (remember in elementary school we could get a pizza party for pop tops?), but hopefully that will encourage our students to participate in recycling.
In wedding related news: I found my dress in the College Station mall, for about the same price as I found it for in Glendale. In my overexcited state, I said that I'd be okay to purchase on Saturday. However after talking to my mom, she said that it's too soon, she needs time to save money for it and we still have 16 months until the wedding. The store said that they can get the dress in in approximately 3 months. They don't do alterations, which is fine, I can take it to a seamstress/tailor in Galveston or the Houston area when we move in May. Sigh. I don't know when to order my dress.
*thought*
Maybe I should look in my many bridal magazines and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The Knot says 8 months ahead. I dunno. I feel like whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. It's happened to me in the past.
At least I know what dress I want, right? The hard part is over.
Innnnn other news... Yesterday was George's birthday. I made him peanut butter cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting to take with him into his lab to share. Mainly because I hate peanut butter and chocolate together and we're trying to lose weight, so this way I still got to bake him his special birthday cake, he got to enjoy it, AND we don't have to keep staring at a mound of cupcakes that only he will eat. Everyone wins! I think his lab-mates love me, haha. After classes were over we went over to Terrazzo Wine and Coffee Bar where we had yummy glasses of wine and an appetizer of hummus and pita bread.
Speaking of losing weight. We started an exercise regime where we exercise on MWF in the mornings, mainly by walking around Wolf Pen Creek at an aerobic pace for about 45 minutes and doing some push ups and sit ups or something. Or if it's freezing (like it is right now) we have a bunch of yoga podcasts to warm up in the morning. Sadly though, I hurt the arch of my foot while walking on Monday, so I've been reduced to limping around O&M and the house for the past few days. What's weird is I didn't realize that my foot hurt until Tuesday, when I felt REALLY sore. Now, not so sore, but my foot is being a pain by being in pain. I was hoping to take the bus this week so that we can cut down on gas expenses and also get some of the workout that we used to get before having our own cars.
I really want a balance ball now.
The other reason why I'm confused as to when to order my dress is when I tried on the sample gown at the mall, it was the perfect size for me... a perfect "10" as it were, because that was the size. The combination of that and my jeans being a bit tighter than they used to be spurned the exercise routine. So if I'm trying to lose weight, I should probably wait a few months and see if my measurements are different. Right? Siiiiiigh.
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Oh Joyous Day!
George has funding! Thank god!
At the very least he has tuition paid for and if he could be paid as a Research Assistant that would be WONDERFUL.
*big sigh of relief*
In other news...
Today was rainy, but not as bitterly cold as it has been. We took our time getting up this morning, I ran out to get some things from HEB so that we could make Cream of Wheat for breakfast and try out George's coffee maker and the World Market coffee that my mom gave him for Christmas.
Last night we went to the Saint Michael's Episcopal School production of The Sorcerer by Gilbert and Sullivan. It was fun! It was only my second G&S production I've seen, but I sense that there will probably be more in my future. We went to Ben and Jerry's afterwards with a bunch of George's high school peeps. It was definitely a rowdy/nerdy and interesting bunch, but fun nonetheless. Emphasis on the nerdy, haha.
We also came into possession of the engagement pictures that Katie took over Thanksgiving Weekend last night and they are posted on picasa and facebook for your viewing pleasure! My favorite is this one
:)
I also went to the TA meeting yesterday, where I met my mentee, Yang Feng aka Cathy. I believe she's Chinese, and she's a PhD. student that's hopefully graduating this semester. Anyways, about the mentee thing, it was decided at the end of last semester that the way new TA's learned the ropes was not good enough and the mentor program was devised. The program takes the TA's that are teaching 3 sections of the lab and pair them up with a new TA. The new TA observes the old TA's first class of the week (before the new TA has to teach their first class of the week) so that the new TA can learn how the class goes, what the students are supposed to do, what questions to expect, how the experiments are conducted, etc. The way it was done last semester was basically at the end of TA meeting every Friday the new TA's had to stay with the old TA that was leading the meeting to go through the experiment that we had set up for the following week's lab and asked our questions there.
If you were able to follow that paragraph, you are amazing.
Anyhow. So I have a mentee. I updated my syllabus. And I finally came to the conclusion that instead of assigning a final paper, that I will allow my students to find a relevant scientific paper and write a summary on it for extra credit, and a total of 5 summaries maximum will be allowed. So I have my weekly quizzes, and summaries for extra credit if necessary. I think this is fair because I don't accept late work, whereas some of my fellow TA's do. This has hurt some of my students who simply didn't show up to class a few times and didn't bother to ask me what they can do to make up the work, or even tried to submit their worksheets two full days after the worksheet was due. Even so, I think I'm doing the right thing.
Sigh. I need new jeans. I only have 3 pairs that I can fit into comfortably :(
I can't think of anything else terribly important to report, but I'm sure I'll think of something later.
At the very least he has tuition paid for and if he could be paid as a Research Assistant that would be WONDERFUL.
*big sigh of relief*
In other news...
Today was rainy, but not as bitterly cold as it has been. We took our time getting up this morning, I ran out to get some things from HEB so that we could make Cream of Wheat for breakfast and try out George's coffee maker and the World Market coffee that my mom gave him for Christmas.
Last night we went to the Saint Michael's Episcopal School production of The Sorcerer by Gilbert and Sullivan. It was fun! It was only my second G&S production I've seen, but I sense that there will probably be more in my future. We went to Ben and Jerry's afterwards with a bunch of George's high school peeps. It was definitely a rowdy/nerdy and interesting bunch, but fun nonetheless. Emphasis on the nerdy, haha.
We also came into possession of the engagement pictures that Katie took over Thanksgiving Weekend last night and they are posted on picasa and facebook for your viewing pleasure! My favorite is this one
:)
I also went to the TA meeting yesterday, where I met my mentee, Yang Feng aka Cathy. I believe she's Chinese, and she's a PhD. student that's hopefully graduating this semester. Anyways, about the mentee thing, it was decided at the end of last semester that the way new TA's learned the ropes was not good enough and the mentor program was devised. The program takes the TA's that are teaching 3 sections of the lab and pair them up with a new TA. The new TA observes the old TA's first class of the week (before the new TA has to teach their first class of the week) so that the new TA can learn how the class goes, what the students are supposed to do, what questions to expect, how the experiments are conducted, etc. The way it was done last semester was basically at the end of TA meeting every Friday the new TA's had to stay with the old TA that was leading the meeting to go through the experiment that we had set up for the following week's lab and asked our questions there.
If you were able to follow that paragraph, you are amazing.
Anyhow. So I have a mentee. I updated my syllabus. And I finally came to the conclusion that instead of assigning a final paper, that I will allow my students to find a relevant scientific paper and write a summary on it for extra credit, and a total of 5 summaries maximum will be allowed. So I have my weekly quizzes, and summaries for extra credit if necessary. I think this is fair because I don't accept late work, whereas some of my fellow TA's do. This has hurt some of my students who simply didn't show up to class a few times and didn't bother to ask me what they can do to make up the work, or even tried to submit their worksheets two full days after the worksheet was due. Even so, I think I'm doing the right thing.
Sigh. I need new jeans. I only have 3 pairs that I can fit into comfortably :(
I can't think of anything else terribly important to report, but I'm sure I'll think of something later.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Winter Break part 2
Now let's see... where was I...
Other highlights of winter break include:
-A hair cut with Tia. The stylist twisted my curls into ringlets, but they looked like dreadlocks. Even so, I have less hair, somewhat layered, but it feels so much better. I hadn't had my hair cut in like 10 years. (no, I'm not joking).
-A day at Universal Studios with my aunt Staci and cousins Nick and Alex. And also seeing my uncle before he deployed to Iraq.
-My yearly trip to B&N with Staci so that she can load me up with books for my reading pleasure.
-Seeing my younger brother blossom into a tall young man who is funny and smart and has wit like a whip. It makes me happy to know that I can still corrupt him though :)
-Spending time with my mommy is always precious to me. I never fully realize how much I miss her until I am with her and have to leave.
-We actually saw it snow in Santa Clarita. WTF. That hasn't happened in 20+ YEARS. For your viewing pleasure:
-I got lots of money to take scuba lessons this semester. I'm excited :)
-I miss my sisters Desi and Neha so much. I'm so glad that I got to look for a wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses with them! We found the most beautiful dresses for me and them, and I'm so excited to be getting married.
-George and I hunted down all of my cravings from home: King Taco, La Cocina, Chili John's, BJ's, and most importantly, In N Out ^_^
-We also went to the Marine Mammal Center in Marin, CA. There was a Dirty Jobs episode about it, but I can honestly say that I think I know where I want to be after graduation. I want to work in the Monterey National Marine Sanctuary and possibly work to create more Marine Protected Areas. And on my off days I'll volunteer at the MMC, get my fill of seals there :)
-In my first semester as a grad student, I earned a 4.0 GPR, for the first time since high school. And I can't tell you what a relief that was. I set the bar for myself, and for once I know how to do it again.
I'm also teaching 3 classes this semester, which will be interesting. I'm pretty sure I can do it. I can manage my time better. I have Mondays off in case I need to go to Galveston. I'm earning more this semester in case George doesn't get funding.
All in all I think we're off to a good start! Now if only it weren't so cold, it would be a lot better...
Other highlights of winter break include:
-A hair cut with Tia. The stylist twisted my curls into ringlets, but they looked like dreadlocks. Even so, I have less hair, somewhat layered, but it feels so much better. I hadn't had my hair cut in like 10 years. (no, I'm not joking).
-A day at Universal Studios with my aunt Staci and cousins Nick and Alex. And also seeing my uncle before he deployed to Iraq.
-My yearly trip to B&N with Staci so that she can load me up with books for my reading pleasure.
-Seeing my younger brother blossom into a tall young man who is funny and smart and has wit like a whip. It makes me happy to know that I can still corrupt him though :)
-Spending time with my mommy is always precious to me. I never fully realize how much I miss her until I am with her and have to leave.
-We actually saw it snow in Santa Clarita. WTF. That hasn't happened in 20+ YEARS. For your viewing pleasure:
-I got lots of money to take scuba lessons this semester. I'm excited :)
-I miss my sisters Desi and Neha so much. I'm so glad that I got to look for a wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses with them! We found the most beautiful dresses for me and them, and I'm so excited to be getting married.
-George and I hunted down all of my cravings from home: King Taco, La Cocina, Chili John's, BJ's, and most importantly, In N Out ^_^
-We also went to the Marine Mammal Center in Marin, CA. There was a Dirty Jobs episode about it, but I can honestly say that I think I know where I want to be after graduation. I want to work in the Monterey National Marine Sanctuary and possibly work to create more Marine Protected Areas. And on my off days I'll volunteer at the MMC, get my fill of seals there :)
-In my first semester as a grad student, I earned a 4.0 GPR, for the first time since high school. And I can't tell you what a relief that was. I set the bar for myself, and for once I know how to do it again.
I'm also teaching 3 classes this semester, which will be interesting. I'm pretty sure I can do it. I can manage my time better. I have Mondays off in case I need to go to Galveston. I'm earning more this semester in case George doesn't get funding.
All in all I think we're off to a good start! Now if only it weren't so cold, it would be a lot better...
I'm not really sure what I have to do today, so I might as well blog.
Time to recap the happenings of winter break :)
We set out from TX to CA on the 20th of December, and arrived in Berkeley on the evening of the 22nd. My conclusions from that drive are:
-Arizona is the state that will never end. You'd think it would be Texas, but no. It's Arizona.
-It is necessary for my next car to have cruise control. My Matrix, while it is my baby, is rather lacking in that area, and since my car is the one to go on road trips... it's kind of painful.
-Taking the 5 freeway up to NorCal sucks.
After arriving in Berkeley, we spent time with George's family, and I finally got to meet them all. Christmas was lovely, and I love his family. They're a great bunch :) It was funny because his cousins were all very curious to meet me, and vice versa.
I got to do some internal comparisons between his and my family and how they did Christmas. At first I was a bit frustrated because I'm used to the kids getting up at 6 in the morning (which we were working our way into getting our bodies adjusted to the time zone, but more on that later...) to go through our stockings, and once everyone is awake and downstairs, someone sifts through the mountain of gifts to give each person their own pile of presents. Everyone then proceeds to rip through their individual piles (now I'm just thinking of one sibling in particular, but we did all take part in this), and then we have breakfast while figuring out the newest toy.
George's family is quite different. And once I got past the initial frustration (which was in part due to my not knowing what to expect), it was actually kind of nice. We got up, ate a yummy french toast breakfast with eggs and tea and coffee, talked a bit and took pictures, and THEN we mozied over to the living room to open presents. George was wearing the Santa hat, so he distributed presents and stockings. Each person took turns opening one present at a time, which was something I had never experienced before.
Now, while I love the gifts I got from George, perhaps the most amazing gift I've ever received came from his parents. Through the World Wildlife Fund, they adopted a Mekong Dolphin for me. I have pictures of it and a stuffed animal of it, but I HAVE A FREAKING DOLPHIN. HOW COOL IS THAT???
Ahem. Very cool.
The rest of our time in the Bay Area was devoted to spending some more time with family, eating good food, and searching for a wedding venue. Tia was a good sport, she drove us to Half Moon Bay, where we had originally wanted to get married, but it was too expensive. We then thought, why not just get married on a state beach? We discovered that A) it's cold, B) it's windy and you can't really hear anyone that's more than 5 feet away from you, and C) not really wheelchair accessible. So beach was out.
Tia then suggested San Francisco City Hall, which looks like this:
So we decided to check it out. The interior is gorgeous:
We thought, hey, we could probably get married HERE and then walk down a block to a nice restaurant for the reception easy peasy! And probably a lot less expensive than most places! So we put a hold on City Hall and set out to look for a restaurant that would accommodate our guest list and the type of food we wanted for a reasonable price. Not as easy as it looks. We found a place, but I didn't really like the food. So we were sort of back to square one.
After talking it over, we decided that one of the things that we do want for our reception is to be able to dance. So the hunt continued. We found a place that is seemingly affordable, and everything we want (without beachfront location), but I don't want to jinx it, so more on it later :)
While we were in L.A., I did happen to find the dress *squeeeeeeee!!!* I haven't bought it yet because fittings will be easier in Texas than in California. Alicia's coming with me to buy it in Houston next weekend so WOO HOO!!!
ANYWAYS. The whole time we were in California I could not adjust to the time zone. I couldn't wake up any later than 7:30 each morning, regardless of what time I went to bed. A bit frustrating.
It's late in the morning. I should probably get up and shower and stuff. I'll continue on later.
We set out from TX to CA on the 20th of December, and arrived in Berkeley on the evening of the 22nd. My conclusions from that drive are:
-Arizona is the state that will never end. You'd think it would be Texas, but no. It's Arizona.
-It is necessary for my next car to have cruise control. My Matrix, while it is my baby, is rather lacking in that area, and since my car is the one to go on road trips... it's kind of painful.
-Taking the 5 freeway up to NorCal sucks.
After arriving in Berkeley, we spent time with George's family, and I finally got to meet them all. Christmas was lovely, and I love his family. They're a great bunch :) It was funny because his cousins were all very curious to meet me, and vice versa.
I got to do some internal comparisons between his and my family and how they did Christmas. At first I was a bit frustrated because I'm used to the kids getting up at 6 in the morning (which we were working our way into getting our bodies adjusted to the time zone, but more on that later...) to go through our stockings, and once everyone is awake and downstairs, someone sifts through the mountain of gifts to give each person their own pile of presents. Everyone then proceeds to rip through their individual piles (now I'm just thinking of one sibling in particular, but we did all take part in this), and then we have breakfast while figuring out the newest toy.
George's family is quite different. And once I got past the initial frustration (which was in part due to my not knowing what to expect), it was actually kind of nice. We got up, ate a yummy french toast breakfast with eggs and tea and coffee, talked a bit and took pictures, and THEN we mozied over to the living room to open presents. George was wearing the Santa hat, so he distributed presents and stockings. Each person took turns opening one present at a time, which was something I had never experienced before.
Now, while I love the gifts I got from George, perhaps the most amazing gift I've ever received came from his parents. Through the World Wildlife Fund, they adopted a Mekong Dolphin for me. I have pictures of it and a stuffed animal of it, but I HAVE A FREAKING DOLPHIN. HOW COOL IS THAT???
Ahem. Very cool.
The rest of our time in the Bay Area was devoted to spending some more time with family, eating good food, and searching for a wedding venue. Tia was a good sport, she drove us to Half Moon Bay, where we had originally wanted to get married, but it was too expensive. We then thought, why not just get married on a state beach? We discovered that A) it's cold, B) it's windy and you can't really hear anyone that's more than 5 feet away from you, and C) not really wheelchair accessible. So beach was out.
Tia then suggested San Francisco City Hall, which looks like this:
So we decided to check it out. The interior is gorgeous:
We thought, hey, we could probably get married HERE and then walk down a block to a nice restaurant for the reception easy peasy! And probably a lot less expensive than most places! So we put a hold on City Hall and set out to look for a restaurant that would accommodate our guest list and the type of food we wanted for a reasonable price. Not as easy as it looks. We found a place, but I didn't really like the food. So we were sort of back to square one.
After talking it over, we decided that one of the things that we do want for our reception is to be able to dance. So the hunt continued. We found a place that is seemingly affordable, and everything we want (without beachfront location), but I don't want to jinx it, so more on it later :)
While we were in L.A., I did happen to find the dress *squeeeeeeee!!!* I haven't bought it yet because fittings will be easier in Texas than in California. Alicia's coming with me to buy it in Houston next weekend so WOO HOO!!!
ANYWAYS. The whole time we were in California I could not adjust to the time zone. I couldn't wake up any later than 7:30 each morning, regardless of what time I went to bed. A bit frustrating.
It's late in the morning. I should probably get up and shower and stuff. I'll continue on later.
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