My accomplishments, wins, and breakthroughs this year were:
Got a teaching job!!!
Easily completed the Pendleton 5k Mud Run.
Started dating Gary.
My unmet expectations, failures, and breakdowns this year were:
Not getting a job closer to the kids.
Not losing weight.
I learned this year: that I still enjoy teaching.
What am I doing that’s working for me?
Visiting family.
What am I tolerating?
Grading too much.
Skipping workouts, or not working out hard enough.
What am I willing to take responsibility for?
Over-grading.
I would like to acknowledge myself for:
Bravely starting a new job and new life.
The breakthrough that I would like to have next year is: balance grading and the rest of my life.
The judgment, philosophy, or belief that I’m willing to let go of to support that breakthrough is that: I have to read everything.
What I can count on myself for is:
Loving my kids
Intelligence
Humor
Trying
Trying new things
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
No Resolutions
I don't do New Year's resolutions. They are so worthless. If I want to change my life, I won't wait until the new year, and I'll have a plan, not a resolution. A resolution is a promise, and promises, even to yourself, can be broken. But plans are a series of steps to get to your goal. And the best plans have contingencies when you veer off of them. That's way better than a resolution.
Tonight, I found that I do have three wishes. I'm working on all of them already, so they aren't resolutions. I don't have great plans for most of them, though. May be that'll be an upcoming post? But for now, here are my wishes:
Hm. They actually look somewhat more difficult when written out like this.
Tonight, I found that I do have three wishes. I'm working on all of them already, so they aren't resolutions. I don't have great plans for most of them, though. May be that'll be an upcoming post? But for now, here are my wishes:
- Catch up with my work.
- Lose weight.
- Become certain about my feelings for my boyfriend, and certain about the commitments I have or will make to him.
Hm. They actually look somewhat more difficult when written out like this.
Monday, November 26, 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, October 8, 2012
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
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
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