Thanksgiving Tradition

My family has a lot of traditions.  I think that we've discussed this before.  We love our themes.  Thanksgiving is no different!

On Thursday, we go to my Mom's sister's house (my aunt).  My Mom's cousin lives with her, and they've adopted a now-6 year old daughter (now that's a long story!).  So our Thursday tradition is to go to her house, with each family member bringing a side dish.  I have been in charge of the relish tray for years.  It's one of the easiest side dishes for me since I live far away from them.  I try to buy the pickles and olives in August, but sometimes I forget.  :/
At Thanksgiving dinner, we have the tradition of Aunt Linda barring people from the kitchen, of a 5-minute Picking Time when we can eat pieces of turkey skin, of my brother-in-law (BiL) carving the turkey, of board games and sometimes a walk, and of the younger kids playing outside (when it's not raining).

This year, I flew in late on Wednesday night (or early on Thursday morning), so my sister and the kids picked me up and I stayed at their house.  Although I hate mornings, it was nice to wake up to the smell of coffee (my BiL is an early riser) and sound of my youngest nephew running around upstairs.  He never walks, he runs.  Or skips.  Or jumps.  That kid has a lot of energy.  Later, my BiL told me that he went o the porch to grind the beans for the coffee because he didn't want to wake me up; how sweet!  I can just see him out there with his Superman pj pants on, standing in the frost on the porch, grinding the beans.  :)

On Friday, we watch the last year's home movies and eat a guacamole bean dip.  This is one of my favorite traditions.  I love seeing the kids in action!  And I love guacamole.

On Saturday, the ladies go to a craft bazaar at out old high school (sponsored by the band, so me, my sister, and my BiL all had worked at in during high school) and the guys put up the Christmas lights.  In the evening, I usually watch a movie with my cousin.

This year, my BiL had to work at the fire station on Friday, so we combined our Friday and Saturday traditions in one day  It was a great day.  I loved shopping with my niece at the craft bazaar.  This year, I bought a lot of jewelry for myself.  I was looking for some rustic decorations for my co-worker friend, but was unsuccessin finding anything that I really liked for her.  I did find some holiday decorations for my sister, though.  I fly a lot for days like that. 

Ferris Beach

I did not like this book at all.

It had a rambling plot that didn't really go anywhere. The first person writing was way too intellectual for a a young teen. There was a rape that was probably not crucial for the plot. In addition to the rape, it seems like an awful lot of truly horrible things happened to several families in this small town, more than seems likely. Which makes me wonder that these horrible occurrences were mere plot devices, attempts to make the plot move at all. Partially unsuccessful.

In the end, as a coming of age story, it pretty much sucked and had no relevance to experiences of me or most of the people that I know. People who are demographically similar to the characters in this novel.

My review? Pass this one up. I can't figure out why it ever got on my reading list in the first place.    

Spring 2013 Schedule

Although there might be one change, this looks like my schedule for next semester;

MWF at 10am:  Introductory Psychology
MW at 2pm:  Research Methods
M at 6pm: Human Sexuality
TTh at 9:30am: Introductory Psychology
T at 6pm: Child Growth and Development

There are several great things about this schedule.  The number 1 great part of this schedule is that I have no 8am classess!!!!!  My earliest class is 9:30am!!  No more getting up at 5:30am for Professor Oja!
The second great thing about this schedule is that I taught 3 of these 4 classes this semester.  So I only have 1 new prep!  That is so awesome, and will save me so much time. 
A third great thing about this schedule is that I actually get one unit of overload, which is basically overtime.  Per my contract, I get 15 units of classes.  Usually that is 5 3-unit classes.  But Research Methods is a 4-unit class, so I get overtime by adding that to my schedule!  Woot!  Apparently, that extra pay gets saved until the summer, and distributed when I presumably aren't working.  That'll really help out my summer savings!  If I teach a class this summer, I could be really set! 
With two night classes, I'll still get to call my friend Robert twice a week.  This is a fourth cool thing about this schedule.  I know Robert will agree. 
Oh, I just realized another thing!  I'll be done with classes at 11am on Fridays!  This a fifth great part of this schedule!  It'll make it way easier to go on trips.  Hello, my niece and nephews!  :)

The change that I'm hoping for is to take away the TTh Introductory Psychology class, and add the same class in a MWF schedule.  That way, both of my Introductory Psychology classes are on the same schedule.

Birthday Plans in 2012

It's that time of year again!  It's cooling down, the pumpkins are out, and I'm getting older! 

My birthday is the one day of the year that I plan a do-nothing day.  Sure, there are other days of the year in which I'm completely unproductive, but my birthday is the day that I plan to be that way.

Usually, I try to watch a lot of Netflix and hope that someone will bring me food.  Sleeping in is mandatory, and napping is encouraged.  When available, spending some time in a jacuzzi is preferred over taking a shower. 

This year, I've decided to focus my relaxing a bit.  This birthday will be all about reading.  I want to be able to spend a whole day emersed in the books that I'm reading.  I might check out Mark Watches or Mark Reads, too.  That counts as reading!  I'm not sure if browsing Facebook counts as reading, though.  Hopefully there will also be napping, and there will probably be a little watching of Glee, but I really want to focus on the reading. 

I'm concerned, though, that I'll be reading student homework.  Or reading a textbook chapter in prepartion for a lecture.  That is not a relaxing birthday!  And it's totally productive!  How can I have a do-nothing reading day when I'm working?  So, hopefully I get my grading and lectures done beforehand.

Book List 2012

My family still does Christmas lists.  Pasted below is my extensive list of books that I'd like.  That doesn't even include the ones on my Amazon Wish List (look under my email address).  Really, if you're looking for a gift for me (my birthday is coming up soon!), go to Amazon.  If you can't find my Wish List, then choose from below!  The books are in the order of how much I want them.  Well, at least for the first 10 or so.  Then it's just a giant list.

Auntie M's Book List

Heinlein’s Friday; Starship Troopers

Max Brooks, World War Z

Mark Acres, RuneSword: Dark Divide Volume Five

Alfred Bester, The Stars are My Destiny

Marion Zimmer Bradley books

Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Asimov, The Foundation Trilogy;  The Caves of Steel

Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Journey to the Center of the Earth

Usula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness; The Dispossessed

C.S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy

Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife

Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes; The Illustrated Man

Gregory Maguire, Wicked

Tolkien, The Silmarillion,

Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere,

Arthur C. Clark’s Rednezvous with Rama

Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony

Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time (series)

Alan Moore, Watchmen

China Melville, Perdido Street Station

Stephen King, The Dark Tower (series)

Stephen King, The Stand

Walter Miller, A Canticle of Leibowitz

Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms

David Eddings, The Belgariad

Brandon Sanderson, The Mistborn (series)

Larry Niven, Ringworld

Dan Simmons, The Hyperion Cantos

Tupelo Hassman’s Girlchild

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Ben Sherwood’s The Survivor’s Club

Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

Joe Halderman, The Forever War

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods; Going Postal

Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever

Lois McMaster Bujold, The Vorkosigan Saga

Niven & Pournelle, The Mote in God’s Eye; Lucifer’s Hammer

Terry Goodkind, The Sword of Truth

Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Susanna Clarke, Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell

Raymond E. Feist, The Riftwar Saga

Terry Brooks, The Shannara Trilogy

Robin Hobb, The Farseer Trilogy

R. A. Salvatore, the Legend of Drizzt (series)

Jacqueline Carey, The Kushiel’s Legacy (series)

Steven Erikson, The Malzan book of the Fallen (series)

Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair

Iain M. Banks, The Culture Series

Neal Stephenson, Anathem

Jim Butcher, The Codex Alera (series)

Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun

Timothy Zahn, The Thrawn Triology

Michael Moorcock, The Elric Saga

Robert McKinley, Sunshine

Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep

Kim Stanley Robinson, The Mars Trilogy

John Scalzi, Old Man’s Ware

Neil Stephenson, The Diamond Age

Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions

Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicles

Piers Anthony, The Xanth Series

Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

Richar Adams, Watership Down

Lynn Abbey, Rifkind’s Challenge

Connie Willis, Doomsday Book

What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain

Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants

Barbara Hambly, the Ladies of Mandrigyn (series)

Howell & Willis’s Societies at Peace

Marjorie M. Liu, Darkness Calls

Jenson, The Heart of Whiteness

Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad/Poor Dad

Jay Lake's Green

Tanith Lee’s The Birthgrave (series)

Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, and The Boys from Brazil

James McBride, Color of Water

Amil Menon, Archipelago

Rev. Morrison-Reed, Black Pioneers in White Denominations; In Between

Walter Mosley’s 47

Gail Nyoka, Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale

Nnedimma Okorafor-Mbachu, Zahrah the Windseeker

Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Jennifer Roberson, The Novels of Tiger & Del

Alan Roger’s Bone Dance

Joanna Russ, The Adventures of Alyx; Picnic on Paradise; And Chaos Died; We Who are About To; The Two of Them; To Write Like a Woman; What are we fighting for?

Josepha Sherman, The Secret of the Unicorn Queen (series)

Judith Stone, When She Was White

Sheri Tepper, The Gate to Women’s Country

Shelly Tochluck, Witness Whiteness: First Steps toward an antiracist practice and culture

Susan Vaught, Stormwitch

H. G. Wells’ Things to Come

Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line

Zamyatin & Randall, “We”

Other books: 

Book of hiking trails in Clark County or PNW.

welcomewhitefolks.blogspot.com

Anything by:

Elizabeth Bear

Judith Berman

Lois McMaster Bujold

Samuel Delaney

Jewel Gomez (except Gilda)

Nalo Hopkinson

Juliet Marillier (except Sevenwaters series)

Anne McAffrey

Brandon Massey

Fiona Patton

Geoff Ryman

Jessica Salmonson

Crystal Singers

Sherry Thomas

Nisa Shawl

Worst Excuse Ever Not to Jog?

I have very few excuses that will actually get me out of jogging. Having a cold or other respiratory issue is one of them. Being nauseous. Most often, having something fun to do and expecting to fit in a run later in the week is the reason that I skip a jog. I expect, with my new job as a full-time professor, that I'll have to skip a run sometimes to prepare for class.

But this morning's excuse is much less... substantial. I basically skipped my jog because of a blister.

See, I went hiking on Sunday. The description said it was "cross country" hiking. I wasn't sure what that was, but I went anyway. In my new running shoes. For this particular hike leader, "cross country" hiking means off-trail hiking. Basically, we walked through a forest straight up to a peak instead of using the windy trail. Running shoes in the forest aren't that useful. I ended up getting a blister on my big toe because my foot kept sliding sideways.

This morning, I jogged in place a couple times and realized that going for a run would put a lot of pressure on that blister. So I skipped it. May be I should've jogged and made the blister worse, but I'm choosing to try to let it heal for a few days. The only problem with this decision is that I put on a pair of pants from my "too big" box and they fit. :( Oy vay, I've gotta get active again!

Back on the Health Path

After moving, I got a terrible cold with allergies on top of that. With unpacking and getting settled, it was a rough time for exercise.

But my new apartment is set up, my new office is set up, and I've started my new job, so things are settling down. That left me room to focus on being healthy! Yesterday, I joined a gym in my new city, and today I went for a run! I found a circular road around my house that is 2.9 miles, almost a 5k. How convenient!

It was my first run in a few weeks, but it went well. My allergies weren't TOO bad, it only got really hot (90 degrees+) towards the end of the run, and I wasn't too slow. I only used 2 tissues, and didn't start coughing until I was almost done. It was no personal record or anything, but surprisingly good for having taken such a long time off, then dealing with the heat and poor air quality. In fact, I probably shouldn't be running outside at all with the air here, but I enjoy it so much!

My eating has improved, as well. I'm getting back in to a healthy lifestyle after weeks of travel and transition. It's quite a relief, actually.