You Better Watch Out

I did not stay up all night, but I did get up a six a.m. to work on the writing. It's freezing in my office so I'm sitting here wearing a coat and hat. I'd turn up the heat but Dave is still sleeping and the radiator is crazy noisy. Sacrifices, people. Let's get this chapter done!

The More Things Change

You can measure my stress level by the number of peanut butter chocolate rice krispie bars I've consumed this week. I won't even give you a number.

But I am making progress on the chapter. Is it possible I'll have to pull an all-nighter? That just seems wrong at my age. And yet so necessary.

Horizon

I had a great meeting with my writing group last night. Those ladies are an inspiration. They both just turned in full drafts of their disses. That's very exciting. I'm next.

Semantics

I've been using a new strategy with Sam where I frame my requests with the word WHEN instead of the word IF. The difference is subtle but important, I think. Check it out:

If you eat some chicken, I will give you more mac n' cheese. 

VS. 

When you eat some chicken, I will give you more mac n' cheese. 

The first one implies that Sam may not eat his chicken, and then I will punish him by withholding mac n' cheese. The second implies that I believe Sam will eat his chicken, and then we will all be so happy about him having more mac n' cheese.

I can't say if it works because, chicken or not, Sam gets more mac n' cheese. I'm a total pushover. But I do feel better about myself saying it this way.

So I'm applying it to the dissertation too.

When you finish this chapter on Friday, you will schedule a massage. 

See, it feels good.

Again, I'll schedule the massage either way, but at least I believe that I have the potential to earn it.

One Horse Open Sleigh

I've been into taking pictures of trees lately. I usually snap away while Sam buries various toys in the snow and waits for me to dig them out. We haven't lost one yet, so it's a game I'm pretty good at. We're not burying toys today because we've been to the doctor and back for Sam's latest illness. This time it's tonsillitis. Did he have that before? I can't even keep track. Whatever it is, I'll surely get it next. Of course, Sam's refusing to take the prescribed amoxicillin. I don't think he's against antibiotics or anything. He's just two. Almost, that is.

Tree Sequence: Three

Tree Sequence: Two

Tree Sequence: One

It's Beginning to Look . . .

Yesterday was the most beautiful weather day I've experienced in a long while. I just couldn't get over how gorgeous everything was under a thick layer of newly fallen snow (although after the twelfth hour of nonstop snowfall it didn't feel so new). I loved every minute. Even the third round of shoveling. It doesn't look like it, but these are some of the best days of fall so far.

Alpha Pig, To the Rescue!

Some two-year molars are working their way into a small toddler mouth at our house. This makes for a grumpy Sam and a grumpy mom. We've all been up since the 5 o'clock hour, and before anyone even took a bite of breakfast, yogurt had been thrown across the room. I believe I responded with an animated, "What the hell?" I can assure you this is not an ECFE approved response. Also not approved is the fact that Sam is on his second episode of Super Why! And I am drinking my second cup of coffee. This gives us some time to take a few deep breaths and hit the restart button. It is, after all, only 8:15.

Hard Angle To the Moon

I just made a calendar of writing events to happen in my life pretty much everyday until the end of January when I plan to finish writing this dissertation. It's possible, people, I'm telling you. And with Mercury finally out of retrograde, I am feeling the motivation. Mercury, you were really getting on my last nerve for a while there.

Update

Having a great time at LRA 2012 with good pal Kate. One presentation down. One to go. Right now I'm eating the most expensive yogurt possible delivered to me by room service. So it's delicious of course. This morning I'll be learning about some critical digital literacies. And this afternoon I'll take in some info about discourse analysis and non-traditional texts. But first, I'll brush my teeth.

Delta Delta Delta

I am blogging from the airport. So that's pretty cool. Less cool is the flight delay they are announcing right now. This reminds me why it's worth paying more for a direct flight. Which, btw, I did not do. Maybe I'll get some exercise running to my connection.

In the meantime, I'll be looking at this adorable picture. And will probably ask the couple next to me to let me hold their baby. You know, in a way that's totally not weird.

Eureka

It's time to finalize the LRA plans. I'll be participating in two talks this year, and I'm feeling pretty rusty. My last conference talk was two years ago while approximately 8 months pregnant. I hope I can at least catch my breath while speaking this time around. But there's no time to dwell on what could go wrong. It's time to focus. Finish the plans. Give the talks. And enjoy some California sunshine.

Design Dilemmas

We have been in need of a sofa since we moved into this house over a year ago. You might think we've been taking our time to make the right decision. But no. We just started shopping for a couch Friday and now we are frantically trying to pick something out before the holiday deals expire today. So much for thoughtful contemplation. The other problem is that Dave and I have very different design aesthetics. He prefers modern and streamlined while I prefer traditional and child-friendly. I understand that this makes me the less hip of the two, but since I've never been all that hip before, why start now. We have just shy of fifteen hours to come to some compromise. This could require a miracle.

Thanks

We successfully hosted our first Thanksgiving here, and I am so grateful for a husband who likes to cook and can turn out a killer meal. I wanted to contribute in my own way so I took charge of the pre-meal shopping. 22 pounds of turkey seemed like a good number to feed six people, so I went with it and did not look back. Now I see that we will still be eating turkey to ring in the new year. There are worse things, I suppose. I am also thankful for family nearby to celebrate life with and to take home a few leftovers. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Baby Brains Superstar

You've probably noticed from a few photos that Sam is really into music lately. It's a treat for us all. He's particularly fond of his $17.99 guitar from Fleet Farm and runs around calling for his "tar" when the mood hits him. This morning he played along while I belted out tunes from Les Miserables. This made me very happy. Obviously we're hoping he'll grow up to be a rock star, but we don't want to pigeon-hole him too early. It's hard, though, given his raw talent. See for yourself.

Turkey Week

We have agreed to host Thanksgiving. Unless this meal comes in a box, it's going to be a challenge for me. Luckily my husband is a stellar cook and I follow directions pretty well. Preparations are starting today. I'm going to remain calm and feign cheer.

Soliciting

I have to say I'm feeling pretty bummed about missing the excellent NCTE conference after hearing such glowing reports. So I'm thinking about a 2013 proposal. Who's with me next fall?

So You Want to Be a Rock Star

I'm sitting in Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota to kill some time and write a little before my dentist appointment (see what I mean about the bopping?). And I have this overwhelming sense that, in the relative scale of things, I'm OLD. The good news is that I don't feel the least bit sad or disturbed by that. It's simply an observation. I do, however, feel the urge to tell this nice kid at the table next to me to pull up his sweatpants and go to class. That's probably just the teacher in me.