Friday, November 23, 2007

Thanksgiving

This may be the craziest Thanksgiving ever. We went to Mom and Dad's and it was supposed to be really low key, and kind of quiet. Craig was working (and it wasn't their year to come to our family's stuff anyway) and no other assorted relatives were expected.

Things, however, did not end up as expected. We drove up Wednesday night. About 5 am Meleah woke up Mom and told her that she was itching. Turns out, she was broken out in hives. So Mom gave her a dose of benedryl and put calamine on her and everyone went back to sleep.

So we went on. I sprayed her with Dermoplast and we rubbed hydrocortisone on her and she was miserable, but not a big deal.

Today, she woke up with her throat tight and her chest tight. So I called the pediatrician. They were closing at 11 & recommended that we go to the emergency room. So we did.

And they were packed at the emergency room. But they still got us in and out in about an hour. And they gave her an antihistamine. And she is not a whole lot better.

And our dog pulled a houdini. That gave us a couple of hours of terror on top of everything else. He came home, though, on his own.

Now I am tired.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Home

We all drove up to Mom and Dad's today. First, though, I had to get my tags renewed-- because I am a loser and did not do it in October when I was supposed to. Traffic was terrible coming up here. Trucks everywhere, and Miss O had to go to the restroom three times.

KY3 (the Springfield MO NBC affiliate)is doing a story on the "baby boom" 10 months after the ice storm last year. I love Springfield local news. It is, of course, what I grew up with. We never saw Little Rock news at home, when I was a kid.

We got our new heat and air system installed. It is really nice to have heat again ; )
Old houses certainly have quirks.

I seem to be having a gathering at my house in December, which means I have to throw out stuff. I cannot bear for my oldest friends to see the mess my house is. And Do is probably going to stop by on her way to Louisiana. So, yeah, I have to clean my house. And I need to paint my living room, dining room, and trim. Because I have nasty paneling in my living room and ugly knotty pine trim in both the living room and dining rooms. And my dining room is yellow. Which is fine, until I paint my living room, then they will clash. And they are only divided by columns. So, they have to match.

All this after my final paper is due on Dec. 8, grades are due a week after that. Then I am free for a week to clean my house.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Links about teaching Comp

“Quantity produces quality. If you write only a few things, you’re doomed.” —Ray Bradbury

“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.”
—William James

Commonplace books may be on my list of assignments for the spring. I am excited about the idea of changing the structure of my comp II class in the spring.

Meaningful assignments:

Creating Meaningful Writing Assignments

A Multicultural Approach to Writing Assignments

Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever is a great resource on the topic of employment negotiation (at least according to the listserv that I read...)

Case Western Reserve Comp Resources

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Debt to Income Ratio

I have discovered that I am broke. My debt to income ratio is too high.

How did I discover this wonderful piece of information? Our furnace went out. It just will not come on any more. And even when it did work, it was inefficient and obviously on its last legs.

So we have to buy a new one. A $6000 new one.

And my dad has to co-sign. I find this depressing. I try to pretend that I am enough of a grownup to not need my parents help all the time. And truthfully, we manage most of the time. We have bought two houses on our own. We have bought vehicles on our own. We paid for the transmission on our truck when it went out. We did, however, get help when the air conditioning went out on my van. They offered, though, because they thought that it was making me sick to go without air conditioning (and it was).

So that is where I am. In my mid-thirties and still not financially independent. I hate that. Hate that.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Update

I have been so busy-- I have spent the last week just running around in circles. I did turn in my paper on time, though. It was painful. But done.

Now, maybe, I can get some time to *gasp* do my job. I did critique a group of drafts today, and handed those back.

I am behind on a set of papers, which has the darlings slightly freaked (and which is not necessarily a bad thing)(he he).

We are launching the online writing center. We do have some dissension in the ranks. But I think ultimately, it will be a positive thing.