Oh it's been a busy, busy few days. I was in San Antonio for a conference over the weekend. It was lovely to catch up with some friends and colleagues I haven't seen in a long time. And a little surreal to attend my first post-PhD conference. The film series I helped organize went very well, as did my presentation on my roundtable. And I even got in a run along the Riverwalk in 65* weather! Won't be seeing those temperatures around here for a long time....
A few pictures from the trip...
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| Helping with pre-trip laundry :) |
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| Riverwalk Christmas Tree |
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| Obligatory Alamo picture |
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| Gotta have a good steak in Texas! |
It was a little strange telling my colleagues what I've been up to. Many had heard I got a job, but no matter how much I love my job, it still felt awkward saying "yes, but it's not technically in our field." But times are changing and people finally seem to be starting to realize that the tenure-track is not the only option. I got some lovely advice on being an independent scholar, which left me feeling happy and energized about research again. And I was super happy to hear a (male!) colleague in a tenure-track job (or perhaps already tenured, I've lost track!) respond to the question "What have you been up to?" with the answer "Raising my children. Oh, and teaching." Love it.
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| Watched the Browns game at a bar in the airport while I enjoyed some Texas BBQ |
While I was gone, I asked my lovely husband to go to the store and pick up some Thanksgiving cookies for my Monday evening class, since we were having a Thanksgiving party and I wouldn't have time to get them myself (got back late on Sunday night from Texas). When I arrived home, I found him making cookies because he didn't find any cookies he thought were Thanksgiving-appropriate. Have I mentioned lately that he's the best?
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| Doesn't that cookie look amazing? They tasted great, too! |
On a related note, it's impossible to find anything Thanksgiving-themed. It's all Christmas. I wanted some little trinket (stickers, pencils, anything) to give away as bingo prizes in my classes. Nothing!
I spent Monday night after class baking 4 pies for my Tuesday classes. My morning class had a potluck Thanksgiving party and it was great to get to try goodies from all over the world. In both classes we went over the Libby's Traditional Pumpkin Pie recipe before we ate :) It was a great way to practice a really useful English skill (reading a recipe). And the students all said they loved the pie!
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"Lesson Planning"
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| Explaining the phrase "they learned to hunt turkeys" to my level 0 students. |
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Today we are celebrating our 6-month wedding anniversary! With flowers, champagne.... and discussing all of our health insurance options because it's open enrollment period. Hooray for being grown ups. ;)
And I'll leave you with this outtake from some pictures I took for an upcoming Thirty-One Gifts event :)
Oh Texas sounds so warm right now. We're having 50mph winds with 70mph gusts. It's cold!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice experience at your conference! That guy gets definite points for his answer.
And J gets bigger points for the cookies. If they were gluten free I'd send my address. Not that they would last. :(
Now I want a cookie.
We had terrible winds on Monday (in the 50mph range), so I feel your pain!
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