Friday, November 21, 2008

Fun Friday Morning!

I woke up and it was snowing! Okay, there were snowflakes falling to the ground, then promptly melting, but it was still fun. Those few flakes made me feel like a kid. I love that feeling. I went for a walk in the snow and thought about how fun it would be if there were enough to make a snowball! Then I realized in a few weeks I'd be in Minnesota and North Dakota and thought, I'll probably see snow then, and cold. I started to worry about the cold winters of the Northern Plains, but then decided to live in the moment and catch a snowflake or two with my tongue. That was fun.

I had my graduate student forum yesterday and it was great. There was only a tiny turnout, but the discussion was helpful for the first year grad students and good experience for me. I was reminded of how evolved my husband is when Emily discussed her worry about asking her husband for help with the house work. My husband cleans the house every week! I am soooo lucky that he is so helpful in every way. His support has allowed me to achieve the success I have already achieved, and will help me in the future. This life is good...back to the forum. We were asked some good questions and were congratulated by Dr. Heller (the head of the department and our boss) who wants to take us to lunch in celebration. I am pretty proud of myself, and that is not something I often feel, let alone say out loud, but I am. Maybe its time I patted myself on the back more often. We'll see.

My students are finishing their persuasion speeches today and I have been notably impressed. Their topics have been varied, with some fun and some quite serious. They have taken my lessons to heart and are building their arguments. If I could, I would shop more, give money to Ugandan charities, stop drinking soda, hike the Appalachian Trail (I did some of that), believe OJ is guilty, exercise more for better health (am doing that), wear a kilt, be involved in my child's life, decriminalize marijuana, lower the drinking age, clean my bathroom, dress well in public, stop smoking, breast feed, use Linux, join a fraternity, make my own decision regarding work versus having a family, work at Hooters, not join beauty pageants, support music in schools and not wear school uniforms. I can't wait to see what else I should or shouldn't do. My class has been fun and we have had a good semester. I will miss teaching next semester very much. I love it. The first week in December, my students will give their short speeches of special occasion. I think these are the most common types of public speaking for most people, toasts, introductions, eulogies, etc. I hope they have learned a lot and I have been an effective teacher.

The weekend brings work. I have two presentations on Tuesday in my classes, so I'll be working on Power Point (which I don't really like). I'll also be finishing my application to one of the PhD programs I am applying to. We'll find some time for a little fun, I'm sure.

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