Getting Older

Yesterday there was a good bit of snow -- on the roads, the car, the parking lot, etc. Since I decided not to buy a parking pass this year, I headed off to the bus parking lot, to take the bus to campus. (Can I just say how much I love that? LOVE IT!)

Anyhoo, the parking lot was beautiful, all sparkling with ice and snow. I was bundled up warmly in my red down coat, warm hat, gloves, and scarf. Cozy, with my cup of coffee and keys in my right hand, and my extremely heavy bag of books and ungraded (!) papers dangling from my left shoulders.

Can you see what's coming? A couple of steps across the glittering parking lot, and I was down on my hands and knees, coffee muddying the snow, book bag skidding across the ice, and wind knocked right out of my chest. Not to mention the shooting pain in my knees and wrists, which took the brunt of the fall. My ankle had turned and hey presto! down I went.

The worst part was that a young man was walking across the parking lot behind me TOTALLY saw me fall, and he just walked by like he saw nothing. Nothing. No "are you ok?" "Can I help you?" Nothing. It was like he was so embarassed for me that he wanted to ignore what just happened.

That makes me sad for him.

Needless to say I shuffled anywhere I went yesterday, and I did a lot of walking around campus. I felt like an 80-year-old woman staring at the ground and taking tiny steps. Thus the title of this entry.

So as yesterday wore on, my back got stiffer and stiffer, my knee got more and more sore. Slogger was great about it, forcing me to sit and lean against a hot water bottle, etc. Unfortunately, I leave tomorrow for a conference in Florida, and I'll be carrying bags and suitcases galore. Oh well.

NaBloPoMo '08 #5: Winter is Here

I just took this picture out my office window, during a lull in the snowstorm now hitting High Plains City. Unfortunately, I rode my bike to work this morning, so it looks like a chilly ride home.

Anyway, I'm off to put on my down coat (thank goodness I wore that!) and ride home. I'll be warmed inside knowing that FINALLY the guy I voted for got elected! Yippee!

Conferencing Bullets

Ages since I last posted, so I thought I would update with some bullets.

* I'm currently in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, attending a regional conference with some folks I like. Next year I'll be the program chair for this conference (!) and I'm actually feeling pretty good about it. I'm pretty organized, and it's a fairly small conference, so ... no worries.
* It's snowing outside. Bummer. But since it's supposed to also be snowing in High Plains City, I think I would be experiencing this no matter what.
* I'm paying $12 a day for the internet, so I'm pretty sure that part of the reason I'm blogging is because I want to get my money's worth.
* My friend Red is now Associate Dean of the college. She's my roommate, and has a bigger travel fund than I do.
* Slogger received an email about a couple looking to find a new home for their 7-month old Miniature Pinscher. I guess he's considering it, but I hope it doesn't turn out to be another Oscar. Oscar was a cute little dog we saw on a Friday a couple of months ago at the local animal shelter. He was perfect for us, but Slogger was hesitant, so we didn't take him. By the time Monday rolled around, Slogger had decided that Oscar was the dog for us; however, when I called the animal shelter Monday morning, Oscar had already been adopted. Much mourning over the lost Oscar ensued.
* My students and I are all thrilled that we didn't have class on Thursday. Thrilled, I tell you! And I'm also letting them out of class the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Thrilled again!
* I think I've already gained 10 pounds at this conference, and it is only the second day.
* I bought these shoes. They should be there by the time I get home.
* Last night I had to finish an algebra assignment before we could go out and have a drink. Took me two hours. Erg.
* There's a candidate for one of our searches(it's a high-powered position and I'm on the search committee) at this conference, and I want to pull him/her aside to talk about the search, BUT I want to do it in a way that doesn't reveal anything to his/her colleagues. Can't seem to find this person alone to do that . . .

And that's about all I've got. Here's hoping that the snow will melt before we're ready to head home . . . .

Best Day of Skiing Ever!

We took our weekly ski trip today, driving the 40 minutes to our local ski area. Light snow was falling in the mountains, the wind was down, and there was fantastic powder EVERYWHERE. What a blast! We even skied a black slope, because the powder made it doable. Footslogger was a maniac -- hurling himself down the slope, hooting and hollering like a teenager. Loads of fun, but now we're home and watching the second half of the Giants/Packers game. I don't really care about it, but Slogger seems to have developed a liking for Green Bay. It looks seriously cold there; but then it's supposed to get down to -7 (F) here tonight.

I'm promising myself not to go into the office tomorrow, as it is an official holiday. Since I have tons of writing to do, I'm pretty sure I can keep myself busy at home.

I've been asked to write a chapter on using a particular classic piece of young adult literature in an English methods class; this means that I'm spending a bit of time in the next couple of days re-reading said classic young adult literature novel, which I haven't read since junior high! Should be easy -- I have an outline written in my head, and the chapter is supposed to be short.

Now I must re-paint my fingernails. I find that if I keep my fingernails painted, it helps keep my bad habit of picking at my cuticles at bay. So now I'm all the girly girl, with pink fingernail polish. Whatever. I do kind of like it.

Skiing Today

So we're finally both feeling better, over our colds, and we're off for an afternoon of skiing. One of the best things about having a season pass is that we don't feel that we're wasting money when we go skiing for just the afternoon. It'll take us just a few minutes to pack up our skis, then we'll ski a few runs, drink some hot chocolate, and head for home. Good exercise, relaxation, and not thinking about work for a bit.