Camping in the Keys

Camping in the Keys was fun. It was hot as hell on a summer afternoon and once you got used to drinking vast amounts of water and gatorade, it wasn't too bad. We grilled up some grub, watched the sun set, had some wading and swimming time, drinks, cards, campfires, and fishing (I caught two fish and one of them was the largest catch of the day). The boys did a little snorkeling and canoing while I napped in the shade.

I am torn between camping in the Keys and at Corbit in the woods. The nice thing about this park was that it had bathrooms and showers. The bad thing is that Annie had to stay leashed and the campsites were so close together it was noisy. Corbit on the other hand is very secluded (no bathrooms or showers) and isn't on the water that you can use for swimming or activities other than fishing from land and looking for gators at night. The group decided we might mix it up and camp at both-one in the fall and one in the spring. My vote would be to camp when it isn't 100+ degrees at night without a breeze and the "little f-ing bugs" don't eat your flesh. I look like I have chicken pox. Obviously OFF doesn't work on those "noseeums" (phonetic spelling courtesy of my husband). Hopefully the itch and redness goes away soon.

Now after a long weekend of playing, it's time to get some school work done and some real work homework done.

Why is there always one?

Or two in my case. I felt pretty bad for posting what I did yesterday (bad grammar on my part and for ragging on my students) but I have decided that today instead of mocking them, I am going to try to help them.

I have one student who has tried to submit her assignment 5+ times. That's right folks, nothing is coming through. I have sent multiple messages asking questions so I can help pin point where she is missing a step, I have sent multiple screenshots with directions, and advised her to call tech support or her advisor. In my last ditch effort before I left work tonight I sent an even more detailed message. I know I should just break down and call her but here's the deal-I teach online and don't work in tech support for a reason. Students like her aren't the ones I can help with a 5-10 minute call. I know I will be on for an hour at the bare minimum and frankly-I don't think she is cut out for online learning.

When I got home tonight, I had an email from her. Besides the lack of a sentence or spelling, she doesn't know how to use email. I have yet to receive an email with text in the body-it is always written in the subject. So, my next attempt at help is going to include how to email and a strong suggestion to visit the writing center. I might still break down and call her tonight but I am really dreading it.

You are probably thinking about the two I mentioned. Well, most people have that "one" person in class. I have two. I have another girl that can turn in her assignments but again, no basic grammar or spelling and it is always in BOLD CAPS. I don't think it is an eyesight issue because every time I remind her she will type normally. This student has worked ahead and submitted the next two units of homework. I am going to gently remind her she should wait until we have covered the material. I took a peak at them to see if she was at least on target but since her writing is so bad, it isn't meeting the minimum standards or the assignments objectives. Of course I will encourage her to resubmit after we get in the unit but something tells me it isn't going to happen. Oh, and she submits her posts before she finishes the sentence and then posts the second half in another post. So, although I struggle with the same problems as onground instructors, the technology portion always adds a nice twist to my day.

The good news is I can teach naked and no one would know. I won't ever have the chance of having my blouse lose a button in the front of my class :) Wish me luck. I am going to do some more outreach and possibly a phone call.

Questionable students

I ponder this question every term-how can my students be so stupid? I don't mean stupid as in learning disabled or not smart. I mean it in the sense that Unit 1 is the easiest unit to score 150 points. They have 3 assignments, each worth 50 points. The first thing they need to do is post an introduction to their peers and reply to 2 others. That is the most stenuous and tedious one. It should take them half an hour tops over a couple days if they are that nervous. The second assignment is opening a document, signing and dating it, and then saving it using a naming convention and then submitting it (there are step by step directions in the class with pictures, I sent them more detailed screenshots, and we covered it in seminar). The final assignment is a review (10 multiple choice questions that they can take multiple times during the unit).

Now, they have a week to complete it, I send reminders to the stragglers and yet, over half the class didn't finish all of them! Arghh!!! My brain just can't comprehend how people work that way.

The good news is that most that actually did their work, did it well. So, there is hope for some. So far, they are a great group of interesting students. Only those two I mentioned earlier are in for pure failure. I need to do some outreach and suggest they visit the writing center asap.

Multi-tasking

I did something I normally wouldn't do today. I decided to leave 10-5 minutes before 5 to take a conference call in my car on the way home rather than sit at work for an hour waiting for it to end. I figured I normally talk on the phone on the way home and this call I was a passive listener unless things got crazy. Luckily, it was uneventful, I only had to chime in once, I beat the normal rush hour traffic, and was home before I normally would have left work.

With that extra hour I was able to successfully help make dinner (ok, so I stirred the stuff on the stove), bailed a little water out of our boat, watched Annie play with the dog the neighbor is babysitting, pack my clothes for camping, assist in gathering other camping gear, and make a liquor store run. Plus, I watched two half hour shows I taped on Sunday and am now going to bed.

It is good to know that people who work normal hours can have a normal life. I have been missing out! Tomorrow is grading night so I can meet a girlfriend for dinner Thursday and "call in sick" on Friday so we can go camping. The thing that sucks is I am so nervous about calling in sick, I probably will be sick!

Monday night class-part 2

Class went ok. I only had 7 students out of 21 show up. That's slightly under average but it was ok considering seminar isn't graded. They were a little shy but I think they will loosen up a little and be fun. I can say I am WAY more comfortable this round. I didn't change a whole lot up but I did "free form" some things rather than refering to my scripted notes.

The outreach I was dreading wasn't too bad either. 3/5 had actually logged in so they are the ones I had to attempt contact with. 1/3 responded to my email asking what she needed to do to get caught up and stay on track. Not too shabby!

I talked to 3 students after class. 2 are on the right track, the other...well, Tech Support will need to walk her through what I couldn't because she is computer illiterate and boarderline illiterate when it comes to the english language (or at least typing it). She asked me a few things that I really couldn't figure out. The letters weren't forming in my mind to represent a coherent thought or question. I can't tell if she is a young'n with horrible texting skills or if she really can't type. I am interested in reading her papers (if she can ever figure out how to attach them).

All in all, a good start to the term. I have 14 minutes left of office hour time and I think I am going to get ready for bed.

Monday night class-part 1

I have my first class for the term in about 1.5 hours. Before we start, I have to do all of my outreach to the non-participators. I absolutely hate outreach during the first week. I struggle between the fact that I am a firm believer in students being self sufficient at a college level and the reality (and job specifications) that require me to outreach to the late starters. So, instead of prepping for class, I will be sending reminder emails to all the lazy students reminding them of their responsibilities this week.

I will post an update after my first class. I can't wait to see who shows up and how the dynamics play out.

Sunday Already?

Since everyone I know blogged about yesterday's marathon of events (tailgating, baseball, and concert) I am going to skip those details. I can't believe it is Sunday already. I still have a few too many chores to accomplish (pile o' bills to pay) and some shopping to do for the mighty camping trip on Friday. After sweating myself (sorta like Jess pooping herself) I am a little hesitant to want to camp in the Keys. I know there will be a breeze, some ocean time, and showers but that wet underwear, sweat rolling down your back feeling is not pleasant. I only like to feel that way when I am exercising because in my mind, sweat equals physical exertion.

Ryan mentioned how much he likes football now. I am beginning to like it too because it means he leaves the house to watch the game and I can sit and read without feeling guilty. I used to like the games to get together with everyone, have a few beers and chips, and be social. Since we seem to see the whole crew every Saturday, I have to admit, I am out of social material. It's me time. Plus, now that I am teaching again, it is a good time to prep for class.

Too bad weekends aren't 3 days...I could use one extra day after all of the chores and fun time are done to relax.

Chicken Pot Pie

I have never been a chicken pot pie lover until last night. Growing up, we had a "deep freeze" (freezer for you non Minnesotans) in the garage. My mother would send me out to look for frozen loaves of bread, hamburger, ice cream, etc. Every now and then, when the chef was lazy it was time for a frozen chicken pot pie. I know many of you recall those individual ones. They used to have to be made in the oven and then they finally made them microwavable. I just remember they would always break apart and their crusts were crumbly in a gritty way.

Last night, Chef Jerry introduced me into a little flaky pastry of heaven. Oh man, the crust was delicious and the insides were steamy and yummy. I like them even more because the pastry was on top and the bottom was a glass bowl. No gritty crust flipped upside down on a plate. I was able to peel my top off and eat it with the insides or plain. mmmmm....now I finally understand why people like chicken pot pies.

Start of the Term

Today was the first day of the term and honestly, it hasn't been too bad. I have 21 students (that was an hour ago so there could be more or less by now). Not bad for a class that had 7 students on Monday. Although my day job has been hellish, it was nice to log in and see some eager students.

Now, I actually have my own homework to do for my day job. Once a student forever a student!

Diet

As many of you know, the hubby and I changed up our eating habits and have been on a "diet" so to speak for many months now. It has been working but I have to say, I sure do miss real food. Here's the deal, god bless Ryan's soul (he's the only one who goes to the grocery store or cooks) but when I got home today and opened the freezer to put my ice pack in, all I could see was Lean Cuisines. Then I opened the fridge and all I could see was yogurt. I like both and am not complaining but for a girl who loves to eat, that was the 2nd most depressing thing today related to food.

This morning, I got up and got ready for work. It took 25 minutes to go about 2 miles today. I swore there had to be a massive accident but no, it was just raining. When I pulled in the parking lot at work I knew that the rain would not be letting up soon. I rummaged in the back seat of my car looking for my umbrella and then in the trunk. No darn umbrella. There were two at home and two in my desk drawer...so I decided to haul ass into the building. I soaked through 2 shirts (white I might add), my pants, my shoes, my socks and my hair was sopping wet (so much for a nice blow job this morning). I peeled off my outer shirt and set it on my chair to dry and put my grandma sweater on to keep warm and shelter my see through shirt. Ok, at this point, I knew my day could only get better, right? Wrong.

Not only did work itself blow but I had warmed up my Lean Cuisine when all of a sudden (much like my Diet Coke) half of it was on the floor of my office. I was on my hands and knees cleaning up rice hoping no one would walk in and laugh at me but also thankful the chicken burrito like lump of sauce didn't land on my shirt or pants. Those things are less than 250 calories and half of it landed on the floor. That was the most depressing part of my day related to food.

I know it was anti-climatic but hey, when Lean Cuisines and yogurt are the highlight of your day...not much can be expected.

No AFK Weekend But...

The hubby declared this weekend alcohol free (AFK) but with both of us having a crappy day and working late on Friday, we had a couple beers when we got home. Which in my mind, only having a couple is ok. So we had also declared it a non-event/party weekend since no one had any plans. Well, that went out the door too when he found out he could get up to 8 free tickets to the Heaven and Hell concert at the Bank Atlantic Center (which is a mile away). So we rounded up some friends, had them swing by for some brats, a couple beers, and off we went to the concert last night.

The cool thing is we knew the show could either be really cool or really bad (Queensryche, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath-sans Ozzy)and it was only a mile away so we could walk if we choose to drink a little more or got bored and wanted to leave before others. All but two people left at the same time during Black Sabbath and those two followed shortly after. For a full detail concert recap, read Agate Lake Girls blog. Queensryche was ok, Alice Cooper put on a fabulous stage show, and like I said, we left during Black Sabbath.

In general, I didn't have too many beers this weekend so although it wasn't alcohol free, it was definitely limited compared to the last couple weekends. Moderation...something new to practice.

Now, time to get my school work done so I can enjoy the rest of the day.

Sunny Saturday

Annie and I went with Ryan this morning to walk while Ryan played basketball. The park we went to said no pets but I figured it was before 8am, I had a poop bag, she was on a leash, and there wasn't another soul in sight. What's the worst they can do, ask us to leave? It was a great park but I must have been the first human to blaze the trails in a while as I ate a ton of spiderwebs. We walked in a nice nature/wetland park, past the big houses, past the stables (saw a few horses), by a totally awesome kids park (it better be there when I have park age children, it looked cool), and back to the courts where Ryan was.

When we got home, we were tuckered and hot. We sat around and watched a little VH1 top 20 countdown and then decided to tackle some chores. I finally hung up all my clothes. I have given up on ironing. I just do each outfit every morning now. Then I bleached the counters in the kitchen and rearranged stuff in there. It was getting too cluttered. That lead me to want to clean out some cupboards and closets and Ryan told me no-leave it alone and relax. Instead, I finished sweeping and vacuuming. I refrained from washing the floors since I did them last week. I dusted and picked up some stuff.

Now, it's time to shower, either read or post my stuff for class. Before you know it, we will be bbqing and off to the concert. I know, so much for the alcohol and event free weekend. When you get free tickets to concerts, you can't pass them up. Well, I suppose I should get cleaned up.

T-5

That's right folks! It's T-5 time until the next term start. They opened my section today, I received my letter of engagement, and I will commence teaching on Wednesday! I am pumped to teach a second term. They changed my class around a little so I have some homework to do this weekend (including updating my syllabus and posting some items within my class). I just hope they didn't change things up too much because I want to focus on changing the way I delivered the content. The other good news...the last week of the term is over Thanksgiving so I hope to get as much done as possible but if I need to do any final grades, I won't be at my regular job.

Sorry for the sporadic lack of posting. Work had been going well but got super busy this week. I don't see it dying down anytime soon. For the last week or so it was good stress but yesterday it turned into real stress. Hopefully it will go back to good stress soon. I had given a presentation to the COO of Academics and the VP of Strategic Initiatives this week. It went well and whether they thought it went well or not doesn't matter to me. I survived, held my own, and walked away feeling good. I have had a few other little successes this week so that helped keep me going.

I will be online much more now that the term is ramping up so I will probably post more often. If any of you read the hubby's blog, AFW...probably not happening this weekend. I got home at 7pm tonight and so did he. Tomorrow we have free concert tickets and you can't go to a concert and not drink. So, I will try to refrain from the normal copious amounts of liquor and stick with a safe amount.

Have a good weekend!

Super Sunday

Yes, today was a Super Sunday. I woke up (without a hangover), blogged, read the paper, picked up a few things around the house, finished my book, had dinner at a friend's house (thanks Jess and Jerry), and walked Annie tonight. I don't want to jinx the weather but it was almost pleasant out tonight. We went for the mile loop past the Mannisto's former house. I have to say, I got a little choked up when we went by. The yard was mowed, a toilet was sitting out front (possibly they replaced the one Meagan broke?), and the lights were on. I have thought about introducing myself if they are ever outside when we walk by. How weird would it be to make friends with the people who bought our friend's house? Probably super weird but one can always dream.

I can't wait for Ryan to come home. I have watched enough HGTV to last me a lifetime. I didn't get any work work done today or a few other small things but I guess that is what Monday thru Friday is for. I am glad he is coming back tomorrow. If he were gone much longer I would go nuts. Annie didn't get too much talking to but I am sure she is ready for someone else to listen to me talk to myself. Jazzy...well, she just pretends to sleep in the porch so I don't talk to her.

Spendy Saturday

With the husband away, I spend away...this time it was on household stuff and groceries. I made a trip to 4 stores yesterday and found almost everything I was looking for. The one thing I couldn't find was an oval shapped wastebasket. A round or square one won't fit where I need it to go. I almost broke down and bought a round one but it was $35! Who pays that kind of money for a trash can that most people won't ever see? I could see paying that or more for a can that sits out in the open but my goodness.

Jess, Jerry and I went to a co-worker's party. It was fun. I played Wii bowling and would have won if Jerry didn't interrupt two of my frames. That's right, I am blaming it all on him. I lost by 9 pins. Jess was a good friend and stayed sober to get us home since it was up in Boca. Taco Bell was my saviour last night because I woke up feeling pretty good.

Today I plan on being super lazy. I have a book I want to finish and possibly see a girly movie this afternoon. I have a few dishes to pick up and a few other little things but no cleaning today. I should put in a couple hours worth of work work...we will see if that happens or not.

Friday Night Chores

Well, the hubby left long before I was awake this morning. What's a bachelorette to do on a Friday night you ask? Clean house! Yes, I admit, I am a weird breed. It was glorious to clean in full mode this evening without a care in the world. I didn't do the usual "kitchen" scrub down but I did sweep, dust, vacuum, mop, clean cat litter, and take out garbage. I would like to note that the spider population in Sunrise just decreased by 50%. I must have sucked up hundreds of those darn crawlers. Jazzy needs to quit killing lizards and let them eat those darn spiders.

Tomorrow, I think I will try to get in a little shopping (this time for household stuff-not clothes) and relaxing time. I may get groceries but since I have yogurt, Dt. Coke, and Lean Cuisines...what more do I need? I plan on going to a co-worker's bbq tomorrow night. It should be fun but it is a good 30-45 minute drive away. I must mind my p's and q's or enlist a sober cab. The good thing is since I am a single mom, I have the excuse of coming home to keep my craziness at bay.

Sunday, I have an invite to watch the Vikings get their butt kicked. I don't even know who they play but I can barely remember the last time I watched them win a game. Hmmm...come to think of it, my Nascar driver hasn't won a race in over a decade I think so that's not too bad...

Have a fantastic weekend folks.

New Respect for Old Rockstars

We went to the Poison and Ratt concert last night. We started off with a tailgate party in the parking lot. Ryan grilled up some cheddar dogs, Jess brought some potato salad and chips, and a few heavenly, ice cold Miller Lites. The heat wasn't too unbearable because it was slightly overcast and there was a breeze. We headed into the concert to start people watching and listen to the tunes.

This is where I have conflicting theories on a few things in life. Rock concerts are not related to Halloween but I do believe some people dress the part. I saw young and old white trash. Some truly looked like rock star groupies but others just looked plain ol' disgusting. Thigh high nylons, too short mini skirts, corsets, hot pants, stiletto's (obviously those girls weren't standing on the hill for the concert). I could go on. You may think I didn't mention men's attire but there were some poorly dressed men too, leather, bad t-shirts, rolled up t-shirts, no t-shirts, bleached and ripped jeans...it was a time warp.

I know I partied like a rock star and feel a little wiped out today. I jumped around, I sang my heart out, I danced like a fool, and I drank a lot of beer. I am no where near the age of some of those other fans and I am beginning to wonder, do you stay young by being an old rocker or does it make you old? I stated earlier in the evening I would be the hip parent bringing my kid to concerts but waking up this morning, I don't know if 20+ years down the road I will still be jumping, singing, and dancing at this same level. Maybe that's when I will bring a lawn chair, sit back and just enjoy the show.

Oh, Poison put on an excellent show just like the last 4 or 5 times I have seen them. Ratt, well, I only knew 3 songs and they wait to play them last. I think that is why we drank so much, the first 2 bands weren't very good and if you don't know the songs, it's easier to just keep drinking.

To all the old rock stars and groupies, I salute you. I hope you don't wake up with hip and shoulder pain like I do.