The Latest Late Fragments

I'm back.

At least for now.

I was meaning to write as soon as the fall semester ended but then before I knew it the holidays had come upon our home. There were choir and music programs, holiday parties and the we instituted a winter cleaning and re-arranging of the kid's bedrooms.  I almost had less time on my hands than I did during the semester. Now, with the kids back in school, I can exhale a little. First world problems, I know and I am NOT complaining.

The fall semester went by in a flash.  I am halfway through my graduate certificate program and I held down my full time teaching duties without being a terrible professor (well at least not too terrible, as I am still employed).

I was busy but it honed me to use my time wisely. Now, when I look back over the years at falling behind with my grading all while just having my familial and job duties, I just have to wonder....what was I doing with my time??

Hint: Youtube and the internet

And no, I am not capitalizing internet.

Here's the kid update. C was elected to the 5th grade student council and now plays the cello, E  (2nd grade) joined the school choir and has gotten a lot more mature this year (less fits, easier for her to soothe herself), H (age 4) played soccer and when he was playing attention, the best or second best player on the field, he is also OBSESSED with Pokemon.

Pokemon cards, Pokemon TV shows, trading cards, pretending we are Pokemon, saving up his pennies and talking about buying Pokemon, Pokemon, POKEMON POKEMON.


At work, I applied for promotion, which took hours and hours of getting my digital portfolio ready. Thankfully, some of the ground work had been done in the spring. I also hosted a Black Lives Matter speaker as well. I didn't need to have too many signs up as I was having 5-6 classes coming to the event, but I put a few up outside my office. We had to replenish the signs over 8 times. Yup, folks, racism is a alive and well in 2016. The event itself went well enough though with standing room only!

Every night before bed, even if I was behind with my graduate reading I would read The Name of the Rose. It was slow, kinda boring and comforting. If you like dense, going off on odd historical tangents, and books that are a tad boring books, I recommend it.

Since the break, I read though a bunch of old comics (yay),  A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comic, The Man in the High Castle (because we love the show), and skimmed through What If? (by the xkcd comic author). I am reading a book about Confucianism now. It's great to just read.

I've booked most of my flights for my wife and I this summer. We will be visiting Dublin & Belfast (and parts many places between) and London. We have an old friend in London, so that's awesome when you have a local around to help.  Then, my love flies back home after a week and I go up to Ballycastle in northern, Northern Ireland for another two weeks for my capstone class. I heard it's class from sun-up to sun-down, but a former student (and friend who did this program last year) said they advised the program director to ease up and allow some free time. I can hope they heeded his advice.

Now, I've got to get busy planning a study abroad to India, becausel, what else am I going to do? When I turned 39, back in July, it really  gave me a sense of urgency in what I want to do with my career. I found a willing colleague, so why not? Life is short and the world is full of adventure.

I'll try to blog again before I am back at work as I really want to finish up my high school memories series before Father Time eats more memories. I might even check in from time to time before I leave for our trip. Then, I will definitely be updating the blog with all the nutty details of our travels.

Well, back to reality and time to sweep up. Whoever you are, I hope your holiday season was well and you are able to reflect on your life and be thankful for something, even if it's small.