Thursday, September 30, 2010

Better Than Halloween This Year...


Gotta just love em' both, don't you?!  Times like this I miss living on the eastern seaboard...
I'm hoping someone I know is close enough to go!  (Even O'Reilly is giving them air time...who knew?!)

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Learn vs. Teach

I haven't quite settled into my new schedule yet and I'm now working two jobs, as I'm continuing on at the quilt shop a few days a month (it's nice to have a fun escape where I know what I'm doing!).  The end result is limited blogging time this last couple of weeks.  I'm hopeful things will settle into a new rhythm in the next couple of weeks--but that's likely short lived as the quarter system doesn't allow for anything to settle for an extended period!

The first week with students has come and gone, along with many other firsts.  Problem solving copy machines & classroom hardware, teaching my first class, the first clinical lab session--and let's face it:  the first week of steady work for many months!  I'm out of sync with that phenomenon, but it's coming back.  8-)
I'm comfortably into my office space (which is truly a delightful setting), have my office hours established, and am back into the electronic routine of a new computer system.  I've been oriented to the library system, have a photo ID, and have only forgotten to check my campus mailbox once!

I've fallen into bed early several nights--welcoming the rest, as my brain feels exhausted by the end of each day!  I'm hoping that, too, calms down.  It's not a difficult schedule--just so many 'firsts'!  I've wondered many times if that's how all of the students feel, too, as I've met them & started this journey with them.  They've put so much energy into just getting to this point--getting all of the pre-req's completed & being accepted to the program.  As I learn some of their stories, I'm feeling fortunate with the limited amount of 'firsts' I'm contending with!  Seventy new faces & generally an impressive group.  Very diverse in age & life experience--but they've all had so much life experience already!  Many international students, about a third are male (that's a good thing for the future of nursing!), and all with a strong desire to succeed.  Fifty of them will be finished by the end of next summer if they stay the course.  The other twenty will take twice that long as they're going part time (evenings & every other weekend).  There's a brief 'pause' before the other program starts in about four weeks with forty additional students--also a part time and full time mix.

So--for now--I'm just taking each day & week as it comes, and celebrating the little accomplishments along the path (and feeling pretty humble!)  I'm learning a lot & appreciate the challenges.
I'll keep you posted...    

Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Last Laugh of Summer Vacation...

Devin offered up this great response to the Ftr. Guido video I posted.  It definitely deserves to be shared--so I'm passing it on!
I so love Rowan Atkinson!  May I never be that teacher--but wouldn't you give anything for that 'death stare'?!  (and that's another thing I've never thought twice about--attendance?! hoo-boy!)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Week One is Wrapping Up

It's really been a great 'first week' of work, all things considered.  So many new things to learn, faces & names to retain (and the students aren't here yet!), culture exposure, etc.  Everyone has been surprisingly nice & helpful with only a few minor exceptions.  Quite welcoming.
Everything is new--whether it's where to find the 'right' bathroom or the emergency procedures.  New hire paperwork, parking stickers, photo ID's, where to find student services, which are the texts for this quarter vs. the next... on & on.  Then to notch it up just a bit--there were three days of time with staff from both campuses together (not a common experience the rest of the year) so there have been exponentially more faces, degree tracts, programs, etc.  It's been a nice way to get a feel for the philosophy & personality of the organization.
Commitment is pervasive with a capital C--and little evidence of burn-out or undue cynicism (that's a relief!).  I thought I would share a video that was included in the President's remarks on the first day--the remainder of remarks were serious, compelling & challenging--but anyone that can share the stage with Father Guido earns extra credit from me!
Thankfully, there is an obvious strong desire to give staff & students a hand-up to success--especially if you're 'new'.  Everytime I had the beginning of a thought about being overwhelmed, I had only to think of another full-time new faculty person that has just arrived with his family from Beijing (yes, that would be China) for a year of teaching.  How could I possibly think I'm overwhelmed by the culture shift?  He was so endearing & excited--and anxious to adapt!  So--I just take a deep breath, tell myself it could be worse, 'don't sweat the small stuff', & move on to the next task at hand.
I'll keep you posted as to my seeming resilience after next week comes & goes.  Seventy new students will be darkening the door (soon to be followed by forty more in a month!).
Stay tuned! Wha-hoo!!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

This Message Brought to You by Mother Nature...

Excuse me, but a brief moment of whining is coming!
Despite a few stellar days--some of them even in consecutive order--most of Puget Sound will agree that this was the summer that wasn't. Fortunately they don't come around all that often--but this will be 'one for the books' for many people on a personal level & there are several records that I'm sure will support that perception.
But this week it's become all too clear:  warm or not, where is the sun going?!  I mean, come on! (...and I know how the planetary rotation works, lest you feel a need to answer my rhetorical question!)


I checked the facts to ensure what's already so obvious:  in two months we've lost 2 hours & 42 minutes of daylight--and by the end of the month it will be over 4 hours!  (With three months to go to the winter solstice after that!)  I'm just not ready to give it up yet! (best to imagine Snoopy's  'curse you Red Baron' stance with that statement...)
The sensation is compounded on these grey, drizzly days--it's just a bummer... *sigh*  I know many of you had unseasonably hot, terrible summers this year so I know you can't really relate. And my house wasn't picked up by a tornado or flooded by a hurricane or besieged by a host of locusts.  So what am I feeling so low about?!
OK, got that off my chest.
Guess I'll go up my Vitamin D dosage--I'm gonna need it!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Farewell to Summer Reading


My year of pleasure reading is winding down as the school term is looming ahead--I hope to keep it up but I'm sure the pace will be changing dramatically!  I've read such great volumes--all could be commented on but I'll spare you.

Tracy Kidder, however, deserves special accolades.  The first book I read of his several years ago, Mountains Beyond Mountains, should be required reading for everyone. (That's a hint.  If you've not read it, put it in your line-up!)

This year, I read My Detachment (unusually, a personal memoir from the Viet Nam war), and Among SchoolChildren (a great story of public education in America)--both excellent.

I just completed Strength in What Remains--an incredible story of Deo, a survivor of the Burundi genocide that miraculously ends up in NYC with $200 in his pocket, knowing no one, & understanding no English.  A former medical student in Africa becomes a homeless person in America--with a mission to return to med school.  An honest, haunting & inspiring story--and told so well by one of my all-time favorite authors.  We are all richer from his writing--and the people who's stories he chooses to tell.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Bowling

In the midst of many work days, the waning days of summer 'vacation' before the new work world starts, & several fun family events--I took a detour into bowl making!
I've periodically been intrigued by the process & often thought I would try it one day--and then:  there was a book sitting on the library shelf asking to be checked out!  (Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Bowls by Linda Johansen) Just had to take it home & try it...
Anyway, I'm stopping at nine!  I gave two away & here are the other seven.  They're 'reversible' so they're pictured turned both ways.  I guess you could say they are quilted as they're made as a 'sandwich'; either a rigid inner layer or a softer (canvas) one.

How fun is that?!
Remember that pile on my floor that was a flash-of-a-project while I was in the middle of something else?  Well this was the outcome of that pile that got me sidetracked!  I think I have the technique down now--so am getting back to other tasks at hand.  Next time I think I'll try boxes, which the author moved on to in later editions.
One reason that I thought this would be worth trying is the idea that's been in the back of my head for awhile--doing something in collaboration with Jim's wooden bowls.  Wouldn't it be interesting to try one of these to fit one?  (I'm eying the occasional reject he's not happy with & thinking a new lease on life might be better than the burn pile!)

Sunday, September 5, 2010

City Tourists

Early in the week we had a fun couple of days in Seattle--thanks to a great invitation from Mike & Lynn! 
Took the Sounder downtown & so were unencumbered by a car.  Did Elliott Bay Books, Pike Place Market, had some great food, saw some great art, and took in a Mariners game.
The weather was picture perfect for 'the Safe'--and despite a loss, the game was much fun.  The next day Mike & Lynn headed on for points south via Amtrak & we met up with our boys (& Brittany,too!) for a rainy-day REI visit a great meal & then a train trip back to the ferry.
We packed a lot into a short time!  We're foregoing a Bumbershoot  Labor Day weekend this year--so this was a great 'instead of' city fix.
Here's Jim at the 'gum wall' in Post Alley, Pike Place Market. 
(Yes--gum! Click on it for a better view!)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010