Wilmington, DE

I've never been to Wilmington (I don't think I've ever even been to Delaware, but I'm not sure). However, I have a pretty clear picture in my mind of what Wilmington looks like. Based primarily on the mail I receive, I imagine the town to consist of a single street, lined on both sides with very tall buildings, all of which bear the logos of money-lending corporations. The town also has a post office, which is perhaps the busiest in the nation (or at least has the most outgoing mail in the nation).

Do you know how disappointing it is to have a full mailbox only to realize that it's nearly all from Wilmington, DE?

Is It Friday Yet?

You know those weeks that just seem to drag on and on and on.... I know it's only Tuesday, but it feels like the week's been the better part of forever already. I've been up too early the past few days, and I think I've been up too late too. I should be able to get to bed at a decent hour tonight...we'll see. I think I'll spend the rest of the afternoon revising my reading lists and preparing for my Wednesday and Friday classes so I don't have that stuff to do later in the week.

Wedding Show

Yep, another wedding-type post.... Anyway, Jimmy and I went to a big wedding show yesterday. (And yes, it was a wedding show rather than a bridal show; boys were invited.) We were hoping to get some ideas and get a lot of things accomplished, but that didn't really happen. I picked up a lot of flyers and collected business cards, but that's about it. The place was completely packed (I think they were planning on having part of the show outside, but it was raining.), so it was a bit difficult to navigate. I did learn, however, that there are some places to which children, particularly babies in strollers, should not be brought. With the crowds, strollers caused traffic jams, and crying babies weren't appreciated with all of the other noise. And besides, aren't the babies supposed to come sometime after the wedding rather than before?

Return of the Vampires

The vampires were loose on campus today. (Actually, they've been on campus nearly all week; I just hadn't decided to go visit them until today.) Being that they have been leaving messages on my phone for about the last week, I decided that I would go and let them have my blood this afternoon. Karen and I went over together, though I was half expecting to be turned away. (I was expecting my iron to be too low, but it was okay.) The whole process went smoothly, and I didn't even feel fuzzy. (That was a surprise as I hadn't eaten anything all day. I packed my lunch this morning, but I managed to leave it in the refrigerator when I left my apartment.) I did have to laugh when I left though; they gave out winter scarves to everyone who donated...not quite what you need when the temperature's near 100....

Washing Dishes

I just finished washing dishes for the night. (Or, as they would say back home, 'warshing' dishes.) My glorified hallway that I call my kitchen doesn't have a dishwasher, so I get to wash all of my dishes the old-fashioned way. As I was washing my silverware, I noticed something: one of my spoons had the word 'China' on it. Isn't china the stuff that goes in the cabinet rather than the stuff that goes in drawers? Does my china (the very few pieces that I have, which were purchased at a second-hand store) say something like 'silver' on it?

And School Begins....

Today was the first day of the new semester. I'm teaching one class this semester and preparing for my exams. I'm also sitting in on one graduate course since it's related to my exam areas. I met with my class this morning, and I think they're going to be a pretty good group. The class that I'm sitting in on also met today, and I think that observing and reading along will be helpful too....

Not really much to report except that I hope I can now get back to a schedule.

More Orientation....

Sitting in orientation again today. Not quite as bored as I was on Tuesday. We're in the ice-box computer lab today; I had to go home and get my jacket during a break this morning.

I didn't have orientation yesterday. However, I still spent most of the day in the office working on things that just didn't seem to go right. I didn't have my phone yesterday (and I don't have one yet today either), so that didn't make things any better. I kinda feel sorry for anyone who crossed my path yesterday because I was pretty grumpy, snappy, and just generally unpleasant.

My Yucky Phone

(And yes, I did use the word 'yucky' in the title for today's post.) Anyway, I got a new phone just over a month ago. Thirty-four days ago to be exact. (I know this because I checked the receipt.) I've been having trouble with my phone almost since I got it. First it told me that the battery wasn't working. Then things worked fine. Then one day it wouldn't let me make or receive calls. (Okay, it would let me make and receive calls, but in about 20 seconds the phone would die and I would have to start the whole process over again.) The next day everything was fine. Today my phone died. It just died. I took it to the phone-fixer place and the phone-fixer-guy gave me a new battery. I went home and tried to charge said new battery. And then my phone let me know that the battery was not able to be charged. I promptly returned to visit the phone-fixer-guy, this time with my charger too, and he gave me a phone number to call to get a replacement phone. Then I went back to the office to call the phone number to get said replacement phone. I called, and the guy who answered the phone was quite helpful. However, it will be at least 2 days until they can get a new phone to me...and that's after I agreed to pay the $7.50 for rush delivery. (I just hope that I actually get the new phone within the promised two days, and I also hope that the few things I downloaded will transfer from the one phone to the next...otherwise there's a wasted $10.)

I'm a little frustrated today; can you tell? (And the fact that I spent most of the day in meetings all in the same room probably didn't help much either.)

Bagpipes

I've been suffering from bagpipe deprivation since I moved to Oklahoma--actually longer than that. I attended an undergrad institution with a very strong Scottish heritage, and they had bagpipes at what seemed like every major college event. I developed a liking for bagpipes, but I haven't heard them played very often since I finished undergrad. As I was wandering through one of the buildings on campus today, I heard a pipe and drum band rehearsing for an event. I stopped and listened outside the door just because....

Orientation, Day 1

Today was out first day of TA orientation. I only had to be there for a few hours today, so it wasn't too long. I'll have a completely full day tomorrow.... I also tried to get a lot of beginning-of-the-semester things accomplished. I made progress on determining my semester schedule, getting my insurance stuff taken care of, and worked on things in the new office.

Getting Ready for 'Back in the Swing of Things'

Ahhh, I spent most of the day today getting things ready for the upcoming semester. Orientation for TAs starts on Monday, so I need to have most of my stuff in order by then. I spent most of my afternoon working in my office. Actually, I spent time and moving from my old office to my new office, and then I worked in the office. While the new office is supposed to be a step up (a statue increase) it's really not too wonderful. There actually isn't as much space in the new office as there was in my old office. Instead of bookshelves and open space, we now have file cabinets and files that have to be stored for another semester. Also, I have a new officemate (three of us share the office, two of us have shared an office for the last two years), so there's more adjusting to new people, habits, and schedules. Though I like the windows in my new office, part of me would just like my old office back.

Karen and I went in search of a table for the Writing Center yesterday. We were sent to the college surplus place, which is basically a really big warehouse in a not-so-wonderful part of town that is crammed full of lots of random pieces of furniture and stuff from the last I don't know how many years. We managed to find a desk suitable for our purposes, and we were even able load it in the car without too much trouble. We were just relieved to get the desk without too much trouble or excitement....

I'm hoping to get my syllabus finished tomorrow and get a little paperwork done too. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything finished before the semester actually starts....

Homehome (More or Less)

I'm back!! I had a wonderful trip homehome, and now I'm back to start the new school year. I have orientation starting this Monday, and classes start next Monday. I have quite a bit of work to get done in the next few days....

Anyway, in my blog today I think I'll tell a few stories from homehome....

Mom's Rhinestone Necklace
Mom got a new dress. (Now, you should understand that Mom doesn't wear dresses except on really special occasions--weddings, graduations, first communions, things like that. Therefore, getting a new dress is kinda a big deal. Jared, my nephew is getting married this weekend, so that's the occasion. Also, congrats to Jared and Kristi; wish I could be there. Okay, back on topic, necklace....) So, while I was homehome, I was helping Mom decide what to wear with her pretty new dress. We'd figured out what shade of pantyhose worked and which shoes looked the best, and then I said something about how a necklace would really add to the outfit. I promptly went rummaging through the old jewelry that I had left at homehome (most of which was the cheap jewelry that turns your skin green) just to see if we could figure out what would look right. We found a simple little necklace that was still in decent condition, but then Mom decided to look through her jewelry boxes to see if she had anything. (Besides her rings and an occasional lapel pin, Mom wears jewelry about as frequently as she wears dresses.) Anyway, after opening a few boxes, Mom found a very pretty rhinestone necklace that Dad had given her as a gift probably about 50 years ago, and decided to try it on with her dress. It fit with the outfit perfectly. (She couldn't be convinced to wear the screw-on earrings though.) Dad came in while Mom was still all dressed up. Mom asked Dad is he recognized the necklace; his reply "Wow, I haven't seen that one in 40 years!" I laughed.

Fighting with Windmills
Dad had a fight with one of the windmills this past week. The windmill wasn't working properly, so Dad tried to fix it. When he went to try to fix the windmill and it wouldn't cooperate, he hit it. The windmill bit back. Dad ended up with a little gash in his hand (which probably should have had a stitch or two, but Dad wouldn't go to the doctor) and ended up calling the windmill fixer people to come out and fix the windmill. It's fixed now....

Water, Water Everywhere....
Okay, so this isn't a homehome story.... Jimmy took me to play at a waterpark yesterday. (I got a little pink.) We spent most of the afternoon going down big waterslides and enjoying the water. I don't think I'd ever been to a waterpark before, and it was kind of fun. (Okay, English major question: From what work, and what author, does the title of this little section come? And no, you can't google the quote to find the answer. Well, I guess you could, but that would be cheating, wouldn't it.)

Homehome

I'm headed homehome for the next week, so I will once again be leaving the world of technology. I'm looking forward to the trip. I'll probably take books, but I don't know that I'll do anything with them. I'll also be taking some wedding stuff along to talk over with Mom and Dad.

Jimmy and I spent most of today working on wedding stuff. By now I think we've finalized the church and the reception site...unless something goes awry again (long story). We made a little progress on things like the rehearsal dinner, flowers, and photographers, but we still have a lot of work to do on things like that....

Anyway, I just thought I would say 'hello' and 'so long, see you next week' all in my little blog today....

Wedding Stuff

First, Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad!! They celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary today!! (Actually yesterday, August 1st, since it's technically the 2nd as I'm blogging this.) They had a big celebration last year, but nothing large this year....

Jimmy and I spent some time working on wedding stuff today. We still have a lot of decisions to make. We thought we had a reception site, but things fell through; thus, we're back to square one again. With all of the searching and stuff that we've done, I think I understand why there's such a business for wedding planners/coordinators and why people elope....