Merry Christmas!
I might as well do my Thanksgiving and Christmas posts all in one day.
Hopefully all of my readers have plans to celebrate the holidays with loved ones. On Monday I'll be driving to Kentucky to celebrate with my own family. The weather is a concern, but driving allows me to take Sheba with me and I don't have to worry about paying additional checked luggage fees for presents. I'll be coming back to Iowa next Monday or Tuesday and then heading up to Minneapolis to spend New Year's with a friend from LA who is visiting with her family in Minnesota. Yesterday I managed to do all of my shopping and wrapping in one day. And I did it all withOUT going to Wal Mart! Woo hoo!
I am relieved to have made it through my first semester in my new job. It's been a bit overwhelming at times, and I spent a larger proportion of time on my class than I had planned (at the expense of writing proposals and papers on my postdoc research), but it was a relief just to get through. My students were a great group and I hope to work with some of them again in the future. Next semester I'll be teaching a graduate-level course that is within my specialty. It should be an interesting contrast to the entry-level course that I taught this semester.
Adjusting to the weather here in Iowa has been a challenge. On Thursday night we had 5 inches of snow. I considered just leaving my car in the carport until the snow melted, but that would probably mean waiting until March. So I shoveled the snow - very good exercise. And not only do we have a lot of snow, but it is also VERY cold. Today (Sunday) it is supposed to be below zero, with the windchill hovering between -30 and -20F. Ick! Luckily, I can spend most of the day bundled up inside. The best investment I've made so far is a new down comforter - it keeps me very warm at night. Sheba is having a very hard time with the cold. She doesn't like it AT ALL and we've also curtailed our daily walks, so she has a lot of pent-up energy. An unexpected benefit of the cold has been that my cat now cuddles up on my lap every evening. Such a treat. Here is a view of the icicles on my front window. More winter photos here. Just a few more months until Spring....
Hopefully all of my readers have plans to celebrate the holidays with loved ones. On Monday I'll be driving to Kentucky to celebrate with my own family. The weather is a concern, but driving allows me to take Sheba with me and I don't have to worry about paying additional checked luggage fees for presents. I'll be coming back to Iowa next Monday or Tuesday and then heading up to Minneapolis to spend New Year's with a friend from LA who is visiting with her family in Minnesota. Yesterday I managed to do all of my shopping and wrapping in one day. And I did it all withOUT going to Wal Mart! Woo hoo!
I am relieved to have made it through my first semester in my new job. It's been a bit overwhelming at times, and I spent a larger proportion of time on my class than I had planned (at the expense of writing proposals and papers on my postdoc research), but it was a relief just to get through. My students were a great group and I hope to work with some of them again in the future. Next semester I'll be teaching a graduate-level course that is within my specialty. It should be an interesting contrast to the entry-level course that I taught this semester.
Adjusting to the weather here in Iowa has been a challenge. On Thursday night we had 5 inches of snow. I considered just leaving my car in the carport until the snow melted, but that would probably mean waiting until March. So I shoveled the snow - very good exercise. And not only do we have a lot of snow, but it is also VERY cold. Today (Sunday) it is supposed to be below zero, with the windchill hovering between -30 and -20F. Ick! Luckily, I can spend most of the day bundled up inside. The best investment I've made so far is a new down comforter - it keeps me very warm at night. Sheba is having a very hard time with the cold. She doesn't like it AT ALL and we've also curtailed our daily walks, so she has a lot of pent-up energy. An unexpected benefit of the cold has been that my cat now cuddles up on my lap every evening. Such a treat. Here is a view of the icicles on my front window. More winter photos here. Just a few more months until Spring....
posted by Laura at 11:30 AM
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