Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

I like it when the school year ends because I can running in the evenings, rather than going to class. This is along my path by the Haskell Indian Nations University, which is also in Lawrence. I liked the pinks and the puffy clouds as the sun set. Kansas is a good place for watching clouds move quickly across the sky. A couple of weeks ago I passed my dissertation proposal defense and last week my ethics board approval went through, so I am officially working on my dissertation. I also finally finished the book I have been working on for just over a year. It is called Exploring Pedagogies for Diverse Learners Online. 93,000 words and 320 double-spaced pages. The book should be coming out towards the end of the year. It was a lot of hard work. When I sent the manuscript to the publisher I was at work. At the behest of my research partner, I took a victory lap around the building and came back to work on my next project, which is a textbook chapter about transitioning Special Edu...

The last day of classes was May 7, which was a Thursday. I didn't really notice. I still had a lot of stuff to do. The day before I had turned in a paper and I still had a final exam to do for another class and a major project for a third class. The final exam was in seven pieces--fifty short questions and two long ones. It took me about five hours. I finished and then went running. Hannah tried on my headphones for good measure. The project was up next. It was 60 pages long. I turned it in Tuesday. The rest of the week I went to work and helped write a conference proposal and a chapter proposal and did my part of another findings project. Brian proctored a final, finished his final assignments and did grading for his classes. I met with my adviser. So did Brian. Away from work, I wrote my dissertation proposal and coordinated the preliminary defense. My major professor's back is out and everyone is leaving soon for summer fun so it was tricky to settle on a time that...

While I was in Chicago my gums started to hurt. I pushed through the pain and thought it would go away. It didn't. It got worse. By the next weekend I wasn't going to commit suicide, but I was sort of hoping I would die. It was the worst pain I have ever had in my life. Worse than when my brother kicked a board with a nail it into my head. Worse than when fireworks exploded in my hands. Worse than cutting my ankle on barbed wire while running to the creek to find my sister. Worse than getting a curtain hook woven through my leg. Worse than transitional labor (that did hurt, but only for a few hours and I had pain meds to help me). And of course, this was a week that I had presentations to make and papers due and work to catch up on AND a talk to give in church and Sunday school lesson to give. And of course Hannah was sick with a cold. And of course Brian wasn't feeling well either. I was able to do everything on Sunday but the Sunday school lesson. I told the bishop that...

I was in Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) April 14-20. I have been going since 2007; this was my 8th annual meeting. The first meeting I ever went to was also in Chicago when I was still a junior high teacher. I started going because my supervisor at the university recommended that I go. I walked and walked and came home with walking pneumonia and wasn't really better until July of that year. I also bought a snow globe and forgot to put in in my checked bag and so they took it away from me at the airport (quite violently) and broke it. I tried calling everyone I knew but couldn't get ahold of anyone so I sat in the terminal crying and feeling sad. I stopped buying snow globes after that. Since that fateful trip, Brian has come with me some years and stayed home others. Hannah's first meeting was in Vancouver in 2012 when she was less than 6 months old. This was her first time not to go. The day before I left, Brian...

We were quite busy on Thursday, dyeing eggs, stuffing plastic eggs with candy. I tried a new dyeing technique this year and I think I would do it again. Basically you use very little water and paint the eggs instead of dipping them. It really let Hannah do more than sit and watch them.  Hannah liked shaking the eggs with the jelly beans in them. So much, in fact that I had to take them away and put them back on a high shelf. We also got invited to dinner and so I did what preparation I could ahead of time so I wouldn't have to get up at 4 a.m. Sunday to pull everything together.  On Sunday, the Easter bunny visited Hannah and left her some legos. Every time we get the mail and there is a package, she looks at it, shakes it, and says "Oh, I hope it's Legos." It never is. But good ole' E. Bunny came through. He also left her some chocolate peanut butter eggs. My parents also sent Hannah some Easter treats. I spent Easter morning finish...

I went to Alexandria, Virginia (outside of Washington DC) for a forum where the federal project director, the grant partners, and representatives of the center that I work for discussed research priorities. My official job was notetaker, which I did with finesse, I think, even when the keyboard wasn't working. I also minded time and asked clarifying questions. The room I stayed in was very nice. I was able to participate and look like I knew what I was talking about. Then I went back to Kansas. George Washington had his farm at Mt. Vernon, but he went to church in Alexandria. The town's other famous citizen is Robert E. Lee. His boyhood home and one from his days in the military are here. Currently the place is more of a business park. Here is the plaza outside of my hotel in Old Town Alexandria.  Here is the view from my room. The place is set up where the rooms all overlook and indoor courtyard instead of having long hallways. Reminded of me of the inside of casin...

I bought an egg kit for dyeing eggs this year, but I also bought some wooden eggs that had been painted white. Hannah and I sat in the kitchen and painted them with Sharpie makers. This worked extremely well. The best part is that I can keep them for another year until I get tired of them. I like to keep the Easter baskets in good condition and so I put them up on the cupboards in the kitchen and I don't let her play with them, except for the one that I think needs to be deaccessioned. When we were done with the eggs, Hannah gathered them in her basket and she has been hauling them around. We also made cookies. Hannah wanted to make sugar cookies, but she was disappointed that we had to chill the dough for two hours. She dealt with this by watching television. She is a big fan of rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies. I am the kind of person who likes all the cookies to be neat and pretty, but if I insist on this, then the experience is pretty miserable. I have fou...