Rethinking Sabbatical Leave

One of my projects for this summer is to write both a sabbatical leave proposal (to be evaluated by the dean of my college prior to being approved or not by the higherups) and a book proposal to publish the results of that research. I made a good start on book of these products earlier this summer, but as time goes by I find myself less and less inclined to work on them.

In fact, I'm beginning to rethink the timing of a sabbatical leave.

The most compelling reason for not taking a sabbatical leave just now is that it necessarily would involve traveling. The proposals that get supported by our administration almost always involve travel -- I suppose the idea that one could stay at home and get work done is considered a fallacy -- and I have been planning to spend most of one semester traveling around the US, working with teachers in different places. The problem with traveling now is that since Slogger had his heart attack, I'm not so keen on leaving him, for any reason. He doesn't like it either.

I'm also not sure, suddenly, that this is the research I want to do. It seems that I have -- beginning with my dissertation and continuing on through my recent tenure and promotion -- been easily shifted by passing interests in research projects. I want to dig in, choose a topic for research, and stick with it. For years. And I'm not sure that this is the area I would like to choose for it.

At this point, I'm thinking of spending this school year figuring all of that out and perhaps submitting a sabbatical leave proposal later. Still thinking about it, though.

Thoughts, internets?

I Know, I Know

Things I haven't blogged about:

* all of the massive gardening and stonework projects Footslogger and I have been working away on every weekend this summer;

* our new fence! which should be completed tomorrow;

* the music meme. Belle tagged me for it last week and I've been THINKING about it, but not BLOGGING about it;

* our fabulous weather, which has finally turned warm and sunny;

* my disgust with James Dobson and his attack on Obama;

* why I can't get myself to work on my sabbatical proposal;

* why I luurrrvvvee my new Blackberry, pictured here:

* and how I am moving up the ranks on Brickbreaker.

All this and more, as soon as I get the energy . . .

After I wrote the previous post about what looked to be a soul-sucking master's defense and a committee chair trying to intimidate me into signing off on a horrible paper, I got another voice mail from said committee chair. On my cell phone. In the message, the chair said, "I'll be sitting here by my phone, waiting for you to call me back."

Sigh.

I knew that I would get no rest until I called the chair back, so I did. And in our conversation, I realized that this chair didn't really understand that what he/she was doing was verging on intimidation OR that we could get the student to do revisions and then sign, and that it was no big deal to do so OR that I was really not going to change my mind.

So I made all of that clear to the chair (nicely, mind you) and went to bed feeling much better about it. The defense the next morning turned out to be rather nice. We had a great conversation about the topic -- because the student is a great thinker and talker, really, just not such a great writer -- and the student was very willing to make revisions, recognized his/her shortcomings as a writer and in this paper, and all was very civilized and gracious.

In other news, it finally got warm here this weekend (yeah!), which means that we finally finished putting in flowers in our brand new garden out front:

That's silvermound, Shasta daisies, delphinium, columbines, cone flowers, and lavender in the bed. Should be really nice -- in a couple of years!







And it means that the cat mint that I planted last year is blooming nicely.







And it means that we got to go take a short walk up in the mountains.

So, a lovely day all told.





P.S. Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. Yes, we've only been married for 6 years, though we've been together for 10 -- and it feels as though we've always been together. We celebrated with our beautiful walk in the mountains and a breakfast out.

Can You Spell Intimidation?

Tomorrow morning I have a master's defense. The paper is not so good, and will have to be revised substantially before I will sign off. The ideas of the paper are great; there are some good sections, but at both surface and deep levels, the paper has problems.

Today I have received two voice mails (one on my office phone; one on my cell) and two emails outlining why I should sign off on the paper. From the student's advisor.

The latest voice mail asked to meet with me face-t0-face for thirty minutes this evening so we could talk about the student's paper.

WTF?

My response:

I will not return the phone calls. I will not meet with the advisor face-to-face. I will not sign off on the student's paper, I expect to see substantial revisions before I will sign off, and I plan to have a frank conversation with this advisor after the defense is over about the attempt to leverage my signature.

Annoyed, to put it mildly.

Birthday Gifts

Yesterday was my birthday (Dr. Bad Ass is now officially 46 years young) and Slogger went nuts with kitchen appliances, which is cool since I love me some cooking.

Here's the haul:



A food steamer that also serves as a rice cooker. Last night I cooked salmon in it -- tasty! And since we're now on an extremely low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol diet, this will help with the low-fat part.




OK, so the ice cream and frozen yogurt maker isn't so closely connected to the healthy diet. BUT it will make some yummy desserts, and what is life without dessert? I've been looking up gelato recipes to try those out.




This slow cooker is bigger than my old one, so I'll be able to cook a whole chicken in it, or a big pork roast. It's got latches on top, which makes it handy for taking to parties, etc. The spoon is a bit of a cheesy addition, I think -- it's a rather flimsy plastic spoon that doesn't do much for me.




So I spent my birthday at home, recovering from vastly overeating Italian food the night before. Slogger was still feeling the aftereffects as well -- probably from the saltiness of the sauces and the amount that he ate. He got home from work yesterday and took a two-hour nap.

So today it is back to the office, to get some work done on revisions to my program report and to get started writing my sabbatical proposal (also a book proposal on my sabbatical work). But first to the treadmill . . .

Photo Meme

So I tried to do a photo meme some time ago, but got extremely frustrated with formatting issues. Here comes Madame Meow, with this lovely and easy idea. So charming! And here you go, me in a nutshell, or, um, a photomosaic...

Here are the instructions if you so wish to do this in your own blog (or just for fun):

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

_____________

1. What is your first name? Doctor
2. What is your favorite food? Grilled salmon, currently
3. What high school did you go to? NMHS
4. What is your favorite color? yellow
5. Who is your celebrity crush? George Clooney
6. Favorite drink? Raspberry Mojito
7. Dream vacation? Backpacking across Europe
8. Favorite dessert? Pecan pie
9. What you want to be when you grow up? My mother
10. What do you love most in life? The woods
11. One Word to describe you. Dependable
12. Your flickr name. Bad Ass Turtle

Thank you to the following Flickr people:

1. French Doctor Who Poster, 2. Grilled salmon, 3. north mesquite HS, 4. A quest for the most perfect yellow yarn..., 5. George Clooney in Dolce e Cabbana, 6. raspberry mojito..., 7. Vienna, Austria, 8. Pecan pie., 9. My Mother: 25th Anniversary Tribute (2006) by Stephen B Whatley, 10. A Stream in the Woods, 11. Elderly, yet Dependable, 12. Bad-Ass Turtle

oops

So Slogger and I decided we would go to this "Italian Night" at a local coffee house -- the word on the street is that the food is quite fine, so we made reservations for 7:30 tonight.

Slogger got off work a bit early, so I called the restaurant to see if we could shift to the 5:30 seating. "Sure," the young woman said. "I'll write you in."

You can see what's coming, right?

We showed up at 5:30, only to find that the young woman who assured us a seat had misread the crowded reservation sheet. The owner assured us that we could come for the 7:30 seating, and that the restaurant would pay for our dessert. So we headed home, and I've spent the last hour fulfilling my NCLM commitment (whew). In a few minutes, we'll head back.

We've often complained about the lack of Italian food in High Plains City, so this had better be good!

Loner is So Not a Bad Ass

I just left Loner at the vet, where he is having his shots and the ABCESS ON HIS SHOULDER cleaned out. See, there's this big orange cat in our neighborhood? Who is about twice the size of Loner? And who -- when challenged to a fight -- will gladly whoop Loner's ass every time?

Short version, Loner got a nasty scratch on his shoulder that got infected and was even starting to smell nasty. So I called the vet this morning and got him in -- he may have to stay overnight if he's a "slow waker."

NOTE: That's Loner on the right, and Marty on the left,
all curled up in Slogger's comfy chair.

Oh, and did I mention that I had a dentist's appointment this morning AND a doctor's appointment? A new doctor, since I haven't actually had a doctor in town for the last four years. This one took one look at my blood work and said one word: Lipitor. That's right, Slogger had the heart attack, and now I'm on Lipitor.

Bummer. Where's my Jack Daniels?

UPDATE: I picked Loner up and brought him home. He's got a big shaved patch, a wound in the middle of it, and he's loopy as all get out. But he's ok. Will he learn not to fight? Um, no.

Yard Work Weekend

So exhausted. Will post a complete list of jobs done tomorrow, along with a few pics. Needless to say, I'm going straight to bed.

After I finish watching Star Trek: First Contact. Gotta love the Borg. Not to mention Jean-Luc. Bald is beautiful, baby!

Instrument of Torture

(also known as a thatch rake)

I spent a couple of hours this morning thatching the grass. That, people, is hard work. I sure hope it helps the lawn.

Today

• I LOVE NaComLeavMo. I've never gotten so many comments . . . I know I'm not one of the popular kids, but you guys are making me feel that way. Thanks!\
• I HATE Chicago Style. Hate, hate, hate. Why did I pick a journal to submit to that requires it? Why can't everyone just use APA and have done? Would someone like to proofread my manuscript (it's really quite short) to make sure I've done the Chicago thing correctly? (I also hate looking like an idiot.)
• I am AMBIVALENT about Slogger going back to work today. It's officially been 12 weeks (3 months already!) since his heart attack and I'm pretty sure he's ready for it, though I'm also pretty sure I'm not. He actually started back to work last Thursday, but with the tornado, subsequent power outages, and the holiday, today was the first.
  

That's about it for today . . .

Um, no.

Yesterday I got an email from a student in my online class. "I had a really busy week," this student states, "and I didn't realize that the online discussion and quiz wouldn't be available on Sunday. Could you open them for me so I could access them?"

Um, no. See the previous post containing the "F" word.

NaComLeavMo

Attention. NaComLeavMo begins tomorrow. We will now continue with your regularly scheduled program.

DANGER: The "F" Word Can Be Found in This Post

Sorry, Jen. But I had to post this.

OK, when I was living in California, I used to have to take the bus. A lot. To work, to school, to the grocery store, to the movies, whatever. One Saturday morning, I was sitting on a bench at a bus stop, minding my business, waiting for the bus. Granted, I do have good legs, and pretty nice knees, and I was wearing shorts (So Cal, natch). This guy rides up on his bicycle, right in front of me, in the street, and stops and stares at my legs. For like, half an hour.

This, friends, pissed me off. I stood up, shook my finger in his face, and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Fuck off! Just fuck off!"

He rode off pretty quickly.

And now for the video that inspired this memory:

NaComLeavMo: National Comment Leaving Month

Since I enjoyed NaBloPoMo so much, and since I'm generally pretty lazy about leaving comments on other folks' blogs, I decided to join NaComLeavMo, which begins on May 25th. Want to join in the hilarity and fun? Just head over to Stirrup Queen's blog and sign up.

Trail Days, Now Over

Another year of Trail Days has come and gone. As always, we had a blast, saw lots of old hiking buddies, ate too much, stayed up too late, and in general, partied like it was 1999. We left early Friday morning (and I do mean early! we got up at 3:30 AM) drove to Big Western City, through a snowstorm, I might add. Our flight to Newark left on time at 7:30, and though it was a bumpy ride, we made it there. Late. Having only 45 minutes to connect, I was pretty sure my luggage wouldn't make it to Charlotte, but it did. Rented a car, then drove the four hours from Charlotte to Damascus, which put us into our friends Trace and One-Third's home just in time to throw on a jacket and a hat and head out to the campground for the bonfire.

Ah, the campground, also affectionately known as "The Ghetto." It's a section of land outside of town that the city allows hikers to camp in during Trail Days. Imagine a parking lot, some port-a-potties, and then trails weaving in and out of bushes, trees, weeds, and mud. That's where the hikers who pour into Damascus by the hundreds get to camp, and pay $5 for the privilege. I completely understand the city charging hikers for the camping, because they have to pay to clean it up when everyone leaves and to police it while they are there. We are lucky to have had places to stay in Damascus every year that we've gone for Trail Days -- I don't want to camp in the ghetto. Not to mention that, according to rumor, it's a Superfund cleanup site.

Anyway, every year there's a huge bonfire in the Campground. This involves a massive fire, lots of folks gathered around it drinking beer, several drum circles, people playing guitar and singing, drunken shouting, occasional dog squabbles, etc. General hiker stuff.

We didn't see anyone we knew at the Bonfire -- it was mostly this year's hikers -- so we walked all around the Campground, past the Riff-Raff site, Billville, and the Quiet Zone, and then came back to the house for some well-deserved sleep.

The next morning we had a light breakfast and were getting ready to head out when Slogger looked out the window and saw Firefeet walking by (we found out later she was on her way down to the Baptist Church, where they have a trailer with FREE! SHOWERS! for HIKERS!). Now Firefeet has special significance for me, because she and Chickflick saved Slogger from hypothermia when they were all hiking together in 2003. Needless to say, I was excited to meet her.

After our chat with Firefeet, we headed out to the vendor area to give it a walk-through and see who we would see. First person we run into: Tangent, our buddy from the Nekton Dive cruises we've been on. And that was only the beginning, as we spent time chatting with Grampie, Texas Jack, AT Troll, AWOL, Carolina Cruiser, Moonshadow, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Rain Queen, Karma, Mellow Yellow, Jen, and too many others to name. Needless to say, we did more talking, laughing, and hugging than we did looking at the vendors. It's always fun to be with the popular kid, and Slogger definitely fits that bill. The fact that he almost died this year made it even more special for folks to see him and talk to him.

And that's pretty much the way the weekend went. The highlights were the parade and the reunion dinner for Slogger's class of 03.

The Trail Days parade is both an opportunity for this year's hikers and previous year's hikers to get out and strut their stuff, and an opportunity for townspeople and hikers to blast each other with water balloons, water guns, and everything else wet they can get their hands on. The water fight wasn't quite so big this year, but there were lots of hikers in great getups.






That's 42 in the flowered outfit.













And Mala as the "Harmless Hiker."













All in all, it was a great time. Perhaps we stayed one day too long, as the festival ended on Sunday and we left town on Monday, but it was a chance to rest up, have a nice dinner with Seneca Lou, Tom for Short, and Trace. Monday morning we drove back to Charlotte and did the whole trip in reverse, which still took us 14 hours. Today we are recovering.

Trail Days

Tomorrow morning (early! We're getting up at 4 AM!) we'll be heading off to Virginia for the annual Trail Days celebration, a hiker festival extraordinaire. I've been to Trail Days many times over the years. Perhaps the most memorable was 2001, when I had been injured (see the side panel for the story) and was on crutches for the entire event. Well, not the entire event -- by the end of it I was walking without crutches for short distances, and shortly thereafter I got serious about physical therapy and got back on the trail.

Slogger and I bought our wedding rings at Trail Days, before we were married, for $8 each from a stall.

In 2003, the year Slogger hiked the AT, I met him in Damascus for Trail Days and hiked out with him. That year I was able to hike a month with him, before heading to Texas to visit my brother, his wife Lynne, and the newborn triplets (all boys!).

So, needless to say, we're looking forward to Trail Days. We'll be staying with our friends Trace and 1/3, who visited us in High Plains City a couple of years ago. It should be a blast!

I'll try to take some pics and post them when we get back.

On Reading First

I've hesitated to write about the report out that evaluates the impact of Reading First on the comprehension abilities of children. Basically, the report says that teachers were doing more of what they were supposed to do according to Reading First guidelines, but that all of this had no impact on the comprehension abilities of 1st through 3rd grade students.

And then I read this, which equates Reading First and NCLB with Iraq. Lovely piece of writing.

My concern about Reading First all along, although I am an adolescent literacy type, not so much an early literacy one, is the way the scripted kind of instruction insults and inhibits teachers. Stager gets that spot on. And now we shall see how the focus on scientifically-based research folks handle the results of their own research!

Week O' Meetings

It's been a crazy, finishing-up kind of week, and I apologize for not posting since last Sunday. Some of the things that went on this week:

MONDAY: Well, yes, there was the three-hour meeting. For the most part, it went down as I said it would. I'm sure we must have accomplished something, but I only remember being one of the laptop users, pretending to be taking notes while surreptitiously checking my email.

TUESDAY: A very friendly committee meeting for a fabulous doc student who is just about halfway through her coursework.

WEDNESDAY: A two-and-a-half-hour department meeting (at least it included lunch!) followed by a retirement reception for the outgoing dean. One highlight of the department meeting was watching one easily frustrated department member's face as we considered having an additional meeting in May. Entertaining!

THURSDAY: The last meeting for this year of the advisory council on which I serve (my last year to serve on it, as I will be on the T&P committee next year). This is actually one of my favorite committees to serve on (can any committees be "favorites"?) because we get our business done quickly and almost always get out early. I don't think that will be the case with t&p. I spent the evening at my investment club meeting, which also ended early (only half of us were there, which explains it a bit).

FRIDAY: Members of the t&p committee met with our outgoing dean to elect a chair (not me, thankfully!) and to discuss which of us would be attending which department meetings regarding discussion of t&p in the fall. I spent the rest of the day working on a manuscript that is due at the beginning of June, and on revising my program report for accreditation. My sense is that if I spend 3-4 hours a week on that accreditation report this summer, I'll have it ready by the September 15th deadline.

In between and among all of those meetings, I've been working on getting my online course ready for this summer, finishing up grades for spring, and resolving placement issues for next year's student teachers. Next week is all about the writing and the course. Has to be.

Three-Hour-Meeting

Today I have a meeting that will last from 10-1. At least they are buying us lunch. A few things I can guarantee for this meeting:

* a proposal will be made to "streamline" our master's degree program, which will have huge support from one faction and will elicit extreme negative reactions from another faction. We'll argue about it and then agree to allow a task force to work on it.
* the question of how many advisees each faculty member should have will come up, with some faculty members complaining about getting too many and being overworked, and other faculty members complaining about not having enough students (or any!). We'll argue about it and then agree to allow a task force to work on it.
* a proposal will be made to offer our masters' degree online nationwide. Two faculty members will support this; the rest of us will think it is ridiculous. We'll argue about it and then agree to allow a task force to work on it.

During this time, one faculty member will be typing diligently on his laptop -- it will appear that he is engaged and taking notes, when actually he is writing yet another practitioner article to appear in a widely circulated journal.

I will be texting with my buddy Red, cause that's just how I roll.