Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

Usually I work all or most of spring break. This year was no exception. Monday was filled with meetings and Tuesday we were cleaning the house to get it ready for sale. The rest of the week we did go some places in between phone calls and teleconferences for work. One of the places we went was Adam-ondi-Ahman. This is the place where Adam and Eve dwelt after they were banned from the Garden of Eden. It was windy and cold, dreary even. And there is farmland, but it is rocky and difficult to cultivate. There are some nice lookouts, however. Through the rocks, some plants have managed to grow. Several altars are believed to have been built there, but they were supposedly huge. Even so, there are many stacks of rocks. Hannah liked the little bit of a hike and once we had our beanies on, we did fine. We also went to Haun's Mill Massacre site. There is nothing there but a pole in the ground. Hannah took her bike in the truck and rode it around at the Mill site. It...

Today is the anniversary of the day that I finished drafting my dissertation. So it is only fitting that one year later I am selling my house. The realtor came by and took her own photos, but here are some that I did. There is one with Hannah. It is the most beautiful of the bunch.

It seems that a post is more than overdue. Since I wrote last, Spring 2017 semester began at KU. I am teaching three classes. Two are for doctoral/masters students and one is undergraduates. Then, I have been working on a grant funded project since I arrived here in 2013 and the funding ended. But we still had some money. So I was asked to lead a team through two more writing projects and I agreed. Hannah went back to preschool in January as well. She is still having a good time, though not as good as last year. My travel has gone down considerably, which I think has been helpful to all. We celebrated Chinese New Year by going out for Chinese food. Hannah liked her trainer chopsticks. Hannah also went to the dentist and got her teeth cleaned.  She did a good job sitting still and she had beautiful teeth so they gave her an award. My sister sent me a link to superhero outfits for dolls and I bought one. Hannah likes it. When we play dolls, she is the blonde "s...

We had our third Christmas as Kansans. We just stayed close to home this year. Hannah's preschool class made graham cracker houses and I went to help them. I supervised them in the house making and then read with them and then sat with the class while they had snack. One of my ironic realizations has been how much more popular well-liked I am as an adult parent, teacher, and researcher than I ever was as a student. During the break we also paid a visit to our local public library. They have little hideaways for reading of which we took advantage. We walked out with an armload of Curious George books, Barbie books, and I found a biography of Alice Liddell who inspired Alice and Wonderland. Toward the break we had a girls' day and I took Hannah and we both got pedicures. She got the princess package and they did her nails too. I was worried she would not stay still, but she did okay. I don't little girls need to do stuff like that all the time, but this was a Ch...

My parents were able to attend my graduation ceremony on December 10, 2016 and spend a few days with us. It was very cold while we were here, but we had fun.  Hannah looks how I felt when I was done. The rest of December was spent getting ready for the holidays. More on that soon. 

I have done most of my academic conferencing this year by myself, but if you read last week's post, I did bring Hannah to Atlanta and I did bring her to Nashville to the annual meeting of the Literacy Research Association. We drove for almost 10 hours each way. On the way, we stopped at 1 a.m. in Metropolis, Illinois, which has made a name for itself as a place where Superman fans can explore. I didn't get any further than the gas station. Here is me having a wonder woman moment. I think I identified with this most because if you look at the bottom, one of her boots is gone. So there she is in all of her glory -- but not quite.  The next day we were able to a little exploring after sessions. We looked (in vain) for the grave of James K. Polk. We did find several other statues on the state capital premises of people we didn't know about before. And we did find a large holiday tree. After the conference on Friday, we went to Andrew Jackson's home, which he ...

I was only home for a few days this month. I went to Lexington, Kentucky; Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Washington DC; Alexandria, Virginia and vicinity; and Atlanta, Georgia. On November 30, I have a conference in Nashville, Tennessee. My purpose in going was to present and conduct research. I never take pictures when I go places, but I did end up with a few. I stayed in an art museum that was also a hotel in Kentucky. I didn't have much time so I saw the art installations on the various floors in about 20 minutes. Here I am about to go and give my presentation. Again, I never take pictures of conferences, but I guess I decided I wanted to see myself as a scholar. We all went to Atlanta. I wanted to go to the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind. We managed to get there. Margaret Mitchell Marsh lived in a tiny apartment rather than the whole house. We also went to Coca-Cola World. Here we are waiting for our tour. The bottles ...