The Lull before the Storm

It’s Monday, and I reached a critical realization while I was reaching for my flashdrive: I have Nothing To Do. This is not to say that I don’t have Things To Do: the hodgepodge pile of unsorted papers and books are strewn over my desk, the papers waiting for me to decide where they should be filed (undoubtedly File 13 is where much of it will end up) and the books begging to be read or reshelved. I have some emails to send to students concerning next semester classes, and I also have final exam papers to print for distribution. I also have mentally dedicated myself to finishing my own novel. Unfinished thank you-notes from my wedding gifts stare at me, mocking my feeble attempt to send them out before the Christmas holiday. As a last resort, I even pulled out my Kindle to finish romance novel that I have previously read at least twice (drat you Julia Quinn for being such a good romance novelist). As for the work, I find myself reluctant to DO any of it. It’s abject laziness at its best, and I choose to defend that laziness with the knowledge that in less than 24 hours, I will be consumed with busyness as I try to grade research papers and final exams and submit grades before the surprisingly short deadline of 48 hours after my final class. I have been in this pleasant lull for the majority of the last week, having come back from Thanksgiving break with the knowledge that only one class requires a whole lot of effort. They are set to turn in their research papers tonight, and I will more than likely play a board game with them, then send them on their merry way with some stress relief and their final exam. Then maybe I’ll feel the urge to kickstart my week. In the meantime, I will just sit here and stare at The Things I Should Be Doing, then read a book. Or not.

The Day!

After much anticipation, I have finally compiled one of our wedding albums. Click here for the update.

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The Doldrums of Wedding Withdrawal

Without warning, today I had a sudden onset of boredom—that persistent need to just to DO something. Unlike other times, this sudden burst of boredom isn’t due to any true stagnation. After all, I’m still working full-time at the library, teaching three English courses, being a mother to my soon-to-be twenty-month-old son, and acclimating to my new role as wife. In truth, I think it’s more the opposite of lack of activity. I can best ascribe it to going through some type of withdrawal from all the wedding plans that were made during the course of this year. I have this need to plan! Or at the very least speculate about planning, and impart this overload of knowledge that I gained from my personal foray into the world of all things wedding. And while it feels great to talk to the latest bride-to-be that I know is walking down that aisle, I don’t want to feel like I’m foisting myself upon her as some newlywed Desperate Housewife. So I decided to pimp myself out to the world wide web and look for some freelance writing work that provides not only some accountability as far as imposing deadlines, but one that others can read (a little money wouldn’t hurt, but it is the least of my motivations at this point). Why should I not exploit a talent that I already have (writing) into a new venue? Being that guest blogger for Adorii (formerly WedCoupon) only whet my appetite to move on to other things. And with the miracle of technology, I can work virtually from anywhere. Another reason getting a paying freelance job would be nice would be because I would be adding some writing experience to pad my CV should a full-time appointment come up. But like the money, for right now, it is not my primary motivation. I’ll talk more about other ways in which I seek to enrich my life later.

What I LOVE About My Son—Updates

The last time I wrote about my son was roughly a year ago, and he has undergone so many changes since then that I felt it was only necessary for me to talk about the updates to the myriad reasons I love my son. I am no longer lugging him around. As of now, he is a fully walking and mostly running individual, who can go up and down steps with relative ease. This of course causes us to now close those gates we installed to keep him from falling down the stairs. Twice since he can freely roam the house, he’s been downstairs with his Pop-pop holding deep conversations. His eyes still continue to fascinate me as I see them absorb new knowledge every day. He’s become quite the mockingjay (those who have read The Hunger Games will understand this reference). Lately, he’s taken to mimicking the sound of snoring (admittedly, mine) and of sneezing (he does his own little fake sneeze). I no longer have to hear many grunts associated with the rudiments of language because my dear son is now in the full-blown stage of acquiring language. He can now say mama, thanks, go and map (from watching Diego and Dora), can count to ten, recite some of his alphabet, and one my personal favorites “tickletickletickletickletickle!” I very seldom any longer have to worry to worry that I am feeding him too slowly, since he can now feed himself with a fork and a spoon. He has a mouth full of teeth now and gets them brushed daily. He is also on solid foods now, and even though we tend to stick to his favorites (macaroni and cheese, Chef Boyardee, and grilled cheese), I am happy to say that he still loves green beans and broccoli, and that we can generally get him to eat anything, except solid meats and as I’ve just found out, cooked carrots. While he’s still pretty quick to go from mood to mood, he has learned the dreaded terrible two fallout move, which is actually one of the few things I DON’T love. The whole decision to just stop moving or cooperate in any way is frustrating, especially when I’m carrying a purse and a diaper bag and trying to hustle us out of the door. I will say still most of his problems are solved by food or sleep and that he no longer needs to be burped. I’ve actually figured out the mystery of whose lips his more closely resemble, or in general who he favors more, and the answer (at least in my mind) is me. But I now have discernible proof. My dad dug up an old toddler picture of me at roughly Ayden’s age, and when I showed it to Lane, he thought I’d plastered a plait and a dress on Ayden and snapped a black and white photo. Someday, I’ll post the two photos side by side so that the rest of the world can see. My love affair continues.

Course Building

Okay, I know it has been POSITIVELY FOREVER since I’ve been on here and there are scads and scads of news to catch up on, but all of that will happen in due time. Today I’m here to talk about the life I lead with one of my many hats and that is as an adjunct professor. I actually love what I do. There is something both rewarding and fulfilling about educating young and young at heart minds about the English language. First and foremost, I love the eloquence of language, and if I just remember that this one of the reasons I teach I will never get bored. But as much as I love teaching about language, there is always more to the profession than standing in front of the class and lecturing. There is the inevitable lesson planning that goes into each session, and naturally, course building. To me, it can sometimes be tedious bureaucratic fodder, but at other times totally necessary. Most of this takes place in the weeks before the semester and into the first few weeks of the class. This semester, it seems as if the course planning part is bearing down on me more than usual. There are a couple of reasons for this. First and foremost, the main problem has to be that college teaching is such an autocratic process that the slightest squelch on a teacher’s creative freedom weighs down like shackles. For example, the syllabus. Ideally, I would like for my syllabus to be a single sheet, front and back. Realistically, my syllabi over the past six years have gone into the ten-page realm with all the college and departmental requirements that have to be included on them. One of the things I will have to experiment with is font size, and the other idea I have is to make the entire syllabus newsletter style (I may try this approach in the spring and see how it goes over; the adage goes that it is better/easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission). The other area in which I find myself struggling is with Blackboard this year. For those of you who don’t know, “Blackboard is a web-based program that serves as the college’s online classroom” (that’s straight from my syllabus that I came straight from template syllabus). Recently, one of our new librarians who sits one of our many (again with this word that I find I am having trouble typing correctly [thank God for Spell Checker!]) bureaucratic committees, this one designed to bring a core standard that is “consistent for students.” While I am getting used to this environment, it’s throwing me for a loop because I now I can’t just copy my old courses into a new one; I have to create a whole new course design which falls within the parameters of what the committee has set. Granted, the full change doesn’t go into effect until next fall, but if I have a jump on what’s already coming down the pike, why not start the change now? That way, my life will be all the more easy when the actual transition comes and I can copy the courses I’m developing now and only have to do slight tweaking for next year. I suppose the real reason I’m feeling harried and like I haven’t quite gotten it together yet is because I haven’t quite gotten it together yet. I went on vacation the 16th of August with no idea if two of my classes were going to make. I returned from being out of the country on a Friday after midnight (you might as well say Saturday) to find that my class Saturday had gone from 7 to 17 students in a week. Since the class hadn’t made when I left, I didn’t do a syllabus or a Blackboard Class Request Form, but I managed to throw one together early that morning along with some of my standing policies and make copies beforehand. Ironically enough, the one year I planned something in August before the start of the semester, my usual late-start Saturday class, which usual begins in the middle of September, right in time for my birthday weekend, gets extended to a full-semester class and starts before all the others. As per usual, the technology was not up and running on the first day of class in so-called “new smart classroom.” So there I was standing in front of the classroom, with what can best be described as a jetlag headache, cloggy ears and all. I muddled through and surprisingly was able to give a halfway decent lecture, only to tell them that I wouldn’t see them for two weeks since the college would be closed for Labor Day. And here I am on a Friday, still getting the Blackboard site together for my all my classes just so I can feel organized. Luckily, it’s quiet and I can get a little more done before procrastination once again sets in and I end up doing something so mundane and random (like typing and posting this blog).

Alicia Carter returns to Lancaster schools with degrees of success

Apparently I had never published this. Alicia Carter returns to Lancaster schools with degrees of success

Reflections on 2011

Wow! I can hardly believe that a month in the new year has gone by so rapidly. As such, I have decided to renew my vow to become a more effective writer by writing some more. I use as my perpetual inspiration W. Bruce Cameron, who recently started sending his humor column again after a long hiatus. Truthfully, I thought my job’s spam filter had been rejecting his columns. In the vein of continuance, I want to start with my favorite subject in the new year: my talk about the previous year gone by. Upon careful reflection, I would have to label 2011 as the year of a whole new world.

The theme song from Disney Pictures animated classic Aladdin says in its chorus, “A whole new world/a new fantastic point of view.” And that’s what last year was for me. I got a chance to see every part of my world picked up, shaken, and turned entirely around. In January, I returned to work after winter break only to stay at work for fourteen days before taking off five months of maternity leave. It was the first time in the previous sixteen years being employed at the college that I’d stayed away longer than a week, and I was trepidacious. Nevertheless, I left.

That Saturday, I had a large host of family and friends show up at my baby shower, although truth to tell, I was nervous about who would show up. But it turned out beautifully, thanks to my aunt and cousin.

Then on Monday, January 24th at 10:42pm, I had the most exhilarating experience I have ever known: I gave birth to my very first (and at this point only) son, Ayden. This is not to say that I romanticized Ayden’s birth in any way, shape or form. My ass was numb; my legs, also numb, were propped wide open by stirrups; and I can only imagine what was gushing out of me. On top of that, I will freely admit that with Ayden, it was not love at first sight because the doctor slapped him on top of me right afterward and he was coated in that waxy white vernix. He also did not look like he was feeling much love either, because he had a very prominent frown on his face, like he was saying, “Hey! I was comfortable; why’d you pull me out?” But our love affair eventually grew as we got to know one another.

Fast forward five months later: I celebrated my first Mother’s Day as a mother with my mother and grandmother. I also got an opportunity to walk across the stage and celebrate the receipt my Masters degree, which had been mailed to me the previous October. I returned to work in time to continue my annual duties as volunteer Marshal. I celebrate both my man’s and my father’s birthday.

But the most important even that happened in May was right at the beginning of the month. On May 4, 2011, I signed contract papers for my very first home. We started the search in October, found a few almost homes: the first one we almost signed for had radon problems and owner negotiation problems. The second and third, we lost the contract to someone else while waiting for adjustments to our financing. All in all, we viewed over 200 houses online, and possibly 40 in person, from almost every neighborhood within our county. In the end, I love the home we ended up with. Some of the main selling points were the deck, the master bedroom, and the bathroom locations. We have just enough room for our little family, and I imagine there will be even more room once we get rid of more of the boxes! We ended up moving in the middle of the month, and we moved my dad in at the end of the month.

Not all of the events of the year were happy ones. June of last year saw the retirement of my boss after 37 years of employment (the same as my age). Her retirement was bittersweet because in a way I was glad to see her go to live out another transition in her life; her final years on the job were filled with a lot of negativity as she saw the camaraderie of the college climate erode. But since I had worked for her since 20, and she had helped shape me into the woman I am today, it was heartbreaking to say a farewell. But she isn’t too far, and I can always pick up the phone and chitchat and laugh with her. We even had lunch together during the break.

As I said in the previous paragraph, again, not all of the events of the year were good events. On July 1st, I got caught on a curb, crashed through a speed limit sign and into a utility pole. I was dropping Ayden off at day care when the accident occurred. In the end, the Dodge Nitro truck I had ended up being counted a total loss. But God is good in all things and as I read in a recent email forward, God is never wrong! Ayden suffered no injury, other than being awakened from his car nap, and I only had superficial wounds from the airbag and the seatbelt. And the accident confirmed the compassion of the human spirit. About ten people rushed forward to help me during the accident: calling 911, taking Ayden out of the truck, cleaning my wounds, while I remained pretty much in a calm state of shock, barefoot on the pavement (the accident had knocked my shoes off). In the end, the totaling of the vehicle proved to be a real blessing since adjusting to all the bills of the new house was proving to be difficult with no extra income from teaching. Eventually, I ended up with a newer model car that had less mileage, took less gas, and was less of a financial burden: I even got a 3-month break in having to pay the car note and $100 gas card!

Other than that, the summer passed pretty uneventfully, and then it was back to the fall, where I was privileged to take on teaching four classes in addition to my full-time job at the library. Even with shortened staff and more responsibilities as far as working and grading, I managed to avoid a lot of stress. Then on October 15, my man proposed, officially becoming my fiancée, and I received the diamond engagement ring I wanted. We were actually planning to elope and go to Vegas, but time and money got away from us. Now we’re planning a more inclusive ceremony locally, but we are trying to cut out as many of the frills as possible.

So that is my year. 2012 promises to be yet another facet of this whole new world as I progress from being a Ms. to a Mrs.