2007 Best Things, Part 5 of 5 (The Finale!)

I had days this year where I felt like a social butterfly, and whoa, what a change that was!  I have always been, and will probably always feel like, a wallflower.  A very content wallflower, actually.  I like to watch people.  I think some part of me trusting people comes from just watching them in the world.  If, instead of meeting someone and having to talk with them, I could just observe them for a few minutes (or maybe 300 minutes…), I would be a lot more comfortable.  But, I grew out of that a little bit this year.  And that’s a good thing.

My year started with bowling parties and dances, where I felt like I was just going through the motions of trying to be social and was kind of relieved to be back in the comfort of my own home afterward!  And while practice didn’t make perfect (I still have to remind myself that I can participate in conversations sometimes!!), the practice did seem to stir up the possibility of socialness in me.  I had to introduce myself awkwardly about 33 times but then it started to get less awkward.  And somehow, by the time fall rolled around, armed with some practice and also some new life goals — which helped too – it started to get easier to just be natural with new people.  My crowning achievement came when I went to the orientation event for future graduate students, and I sat at the lunch table with people I’d never met before, and we struck up a conversation and I more than held up my end of it.  At the end of the day, I ran into one of my tablemates and made a point of saying to her how much I enjoyed talking with her and that I hope our whole table of people gets into grad school so we can do this again next fall!  And that’s the truth!

My students see a very open, playful side of me every day because I feel confident and comfortable in my classrooms.  I think I also know that I have to set the tone, so it simply isn’t an option to be a wallflower as a teacher!  And now, I’m glad the rest of the world is more consistently seeing a more playful, open side of me too.  I’ve come a long way, baby. 

So, like I said, 2007 was a great year for me.  Look at this list…
Best Thing #1:  A Good Medical Year
Best Thing #2:  Momentum
Best Thing #3:  A Perfect Summer
Best Thing #4:  R-e-s-p-e-c-t
Best Thing #5:  Emergence of a Social Butterfly

I hope your 2007 brought similar opportunities for growth and exploration, and may 2008 be greater than great!  Happy New Year!

2007 Best Things, Part 4 of 5

I feel like I gained the respect of my teaching colleagues this year.  It’s not that they didn’t respect me as a person before — they definitely did — but I always felt like they thought of me as a kid and tended to sort of laugh off any professional issues that I raised.  That changed this year.  I participated in some planning meetings earlier in the year, and then I sat on committees this fall.  There was a definite turning point when I gave a presentation and led a discussion at a committee meeting in the beginning part of the fall semester.  I presented a project that I do with my students, talked about my goals with the project, shared a couple of my actual students’ projects and shared my thoughts on assessing the student work and how well the goals were met.  My colleagues had heard from students about the things I do in class, but this was the first time that they got a more detailed look at how I run my class and what I expect from my students.  They saw in me the same kind of thoughtfulness that they give to their classroom activities, and the divide between this group of very experienced colleagues and me got a whole lot smaller.  From that day forward, they treated me as someone who has novel ideas about classroom projects and who has something to contribute that could be important and valuable to others.  I was included in a lot of discussions and decisions and sought out for advice and ideas.  They let me grow up, and I think we all needed for that to happen.

Best Thing #1:  A Good Medical Year
Best Thing #2:  Momentum
Best Thing #3:  A Perfect Summer
Best Thing #4:  R-e-s-p-e-c-t

2007 Best Things, Part 3 of 5

I had a spectacular summer this year!  I’d have to go back to at least 1990 to find another summer that even comes close.  I wasn’t deep in studies, moving, or dealing with major health events.  I was just having a bunch of new experiences and visiting with lots of people and enjoying life.  I got to go to Cabela’s, hold two of my new baby cousins, and get to know several of my Mom’s cousins better.  We spent the better part of two full days at a big gymnastics meet, and I got to attend an important teaching conference.  On the way back from one of these trips, I said to my Mom that I want to go on a trip to Mackinac Island, Prince Edward Island, Disney World and Washington DC (and yes, I did mean all in one trip!).  We couldn’t do all of that this summer *giggles*, but we did plan a last minute trip to Mackinac Island and ended up there on the perfect day.  I got to work with four researchers on freelance stats projects, which was a lot of work but also quite interesting and one project introduced me to the details of education research.  I read books!  I saw movies at the theater.  It could not have been a better summer!

And we had picnics in interesting places.  Let me tell you about our picnics.  Back in 1990, my Mom and I went on this huge 2+ week trip that included stops at Niagara Falls, Montreal, Quebec City, the coast of Maine, many covered bridges in New Hampshire and Vermont, Boston, Cape Cod, Mystic, and Gettysburg.  Quite a trip!  And of all of those places and the interesting experiences we had, our favorite moment of the trip was eating a picnic lunch on the grounds near the Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.  It was a perfect, blue sky day and we just loved it, and we still talk about that to this day!  When you picnic somewhere, you feel the breeze and notice all the little details around you.  It’s a quiet experience that connects you so much with the place.  Well, this summer, we had picnic lunches on Portage Canal and behind the State Capitol building and on the grounds of a church on Mackinac Island.  I remember those moments very well and they added even more special times to a great summer.

Best Thing #1:  A Good Medical Year
Best Thing #2:  Momentum
Best Thing #3:  A Perfect Summer

2007 Best Things, Part 2 of 5

I feel like my life gained some momentum toward something again this year and that I am at the beginning of a big journey.  It feels wonderful!  I knew I would eventually need to figure out what I’m going to be when I grow up, but I was content for a long while to just kind of go with the flow and not make the decision that I needed to make.  And then my job situation was shaken up (which was anticipated), and I was at a definite crossroads.  Do I keep doing what I’m doing or do I grab the reins at this point and make a new decision?  The latter option won out quite easily, and I started making plans toward a goal of being an active researcher in math education.  And as the plans snapped into focus, it just all made so much sense, and I started seeing one opportunity after another to go to conferences, meet people, get involved in research, and pursue more education.  It feels as though a huge light has shined back on my life and everything is full speed ahead, and I love it!

Best Thing #1:  A Good Medical Year
Best Thing #2:  Momentum

2007 Best Things, Part 1 of 5

I’m going to end the year with five posts about some of the Best Things about my year.

Surprisingly, I can start with medical stuff this year.  It has been a pretty good year medically!  I didn’t have any surgeries, broken bones, ER visits, or need for unusual medicines (like antibiotics).  I only had 15 doctor’s appointments and just two kind of big tests, and I was able to block out two stretches of 8-10 weeks with no doctor’s appointments at all.  I had to call in sick to work just twice and didn’t miss any days of teaching.  This is all quite an improvement from 2005/2006!  It hasn’t been a perfect year medically, but with chronic conditions and other weird medical quirks, a year like this is about as good as I can hope for.  I am so grateful for the years when the medical curveballs are few and far between.

Best Thing #1:  A Good Medical Year.

Merry Christmas again

Our Christmas here was good.  I spent the day (after worship this morning) with my parents, my brother, and my brother’s two boxers.  During the afternoon, I sat at the piano and played for over an hour, which was great!  I have not played piano much in recent months and am sort of committed to playing at church during Lent, so I need to get my fingers loosened up again and start getting ready.

We had five extended family members — representing four generations! – join us for dinner this evening.  My cousin’s little boy (age 2) continues to be a highlight of our celebrations and hearing him say “Merry Shopnoose!” (or something like that!) was so cute.  (It will be bittersweet when his words smooth out so he sounds like the rest of us, as his English right now is delightful.)  He chased my brother’s dogs around, played “air guitar” and piano with me, and tolerated me pointing a camera at him more than a few times!  It is wonderful to have a small child around.  All of us are more joyful in his presence.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you’re all having a great day and that the spirit of the season carries you into the new year!!

Merry Christmas!

Oh, the randomness

I think my mind is taking this break very literally, as I don’t have a well-formed thought to share today.  I started a post about how my very favorite sorbet is no longer available but I found a reasonable alternative in Ben and Jerry’s Berried Treasures sorbet.  I could also tell you that I went to Toys R Us for the first time in about 10 years the other evening.  But there isn’t anymore to either of those stories, so there you go.  *laughs*

It’s a little early to say Merry Christmas or Happy New Year.  It’s a little early to wrap up the year since much could still happen in the remaining days.  I could learn to fly or enter a curling competition or move to Vermont.  Who knows!  It’s a little more likely that I’d learn to polka or enter a Lego competition or move down the hall to the two-bedroom apartment that opened up again.  But, whatever.

So, have yourselves a merry little December 23rd!

And now, a break from my regularly scheduled life

I am on break for a few days from all job responsibilities!  Yay!  And I think I’m finished with Christmas shopping!  Double yay!  I only buy gifts for a few family members but I got a really late start this year and was nervous that I’d be out there with the last minute folks on the 24th, wringing my hands, and waiting in line (which is just about my least favorite thing to do).  So, I can probably stay home tomorrow and…relax?  I think I might remember how to relax if I tried really hard.  *giggles*

I worked long days at my new job yesterday and today and have finally gotten my hands on the enormous data sets that I’m responsible for.  Some of the early tasks of organizing the data made me feel like my brain was turning inside out!  Once the data is organized and coded in a way that makes the most sense to me, I will be fine.  But I told my new boss that I sincerely hope that I remember what I was doing when I return to work next Wednesday!  She has been responsible for this data up until now, so she totally understands.

It occurred to me late this afternoon that I totally forgot to write a Teaching Thursdays post yesterday.  Sorry about that!  It’s funny how quickly I was totally out of teaching mode once those final exams were graded on Tuesday (though I am already getting e-mail from next semester’s students).  I will start up that Thursday feature again on January 3rd, 2008.  (2008?!!!)  Next week, I’m thinking of a special series of posts to end the year.

So, that’s a catch up post from here.  I hope your holiday preparations are going great!

Yes! A total dork. That’s me!

I laughed outloud at my results on this Reindeer quiz.  Let me know which reindeer you are! 

You Are Donner

The most loveable and sweet reindeer, you’re also a total dork!  Why You’re Naughty: You keep (accidentally) tripping the other reindeer while flying.  Why You’re Nice: You’re always smiling, even if you’ve fallen flat on your horns.

Which of Santa’s Reindeer Are You?