I saw a bear!!

I've been a semi-regular hiker at Shenandoah since I moved here a year ago. (Though not nearly as frequently as I want.) I actually haven't seen that much wildlife in my hikes, although a few months ago I saw a deer. In the last few months, I've been really, really, really wanting to see a bear! Shenandoah has black bears. Supposedly.

Today was my lucky day! First of all, early this afternoon, we had an activity with the mid-singles group in the stake. We did an easy hike up to Blue Hole, this nearby swimming hole. This isn't in Shenandoah, but it's not far from the park. We saw a bear!! It looked like a teenage bear (if such a thing exists). I didn't have my camera though, but I was still excited to see one! It was well off the trail, but we got to watch it for a few minutes.

After the activity, I went to Shenandoah to do some more hiking. I hiked a 6.5-mile loop that took me past the Jones Run and Doyle falls. (Three waterfalls in total.) There were parts of the trail that were actually pretty steep. And it was so humid! But I had loads of fun.

The last 1.2 miles was along a relatively flat, narrow stretch of the Appalachian trail. I was about 0.5 miles from the end, when I saw it ahead of me....a BEAR! And it was an adult bear this time! It was on the trail, about 30 meters in front of me, at most. I totally froze when I saw it, as it sort of startled me, and I waited for it to make the first move. (It saw me too. However, it seemed much less impressed by me.) Once it started moving away, I tried to grab my camera to take a picture. I wasn't fast enough...

Honestly, I don't even know if the bear is anywhere in this picture. So not only is the picture kind of blurry, but I don't think the bear is even in it.

So I continued on my way, and the bear was out of sight. Though after about a minute, I thought, I have to go back and get a better picture! So I gingerly retraced my steps, in an attempt to find the bear again. It had crossed to the other side of the trail and I saw it through the trees. It was much harder to photograph now, and I had to zoom way in.

Despite the fact that this looks like a picture of Bigfoot, I SWEAR there is a bear in there.

No really. It's right there in the middle. A big, black bear!

Best hike ever!

Impulse buy

I've decided I want to own a meat thermometer. I had a 30% off coupon to Kohls, so I went there tonight to buy one. I didn't buy one. Instead I bought this little beauty:


I was so excited about it, I didn't even have time to take a picture of it between the time I bought it and the time I started using it. I have a regular sized food processor that I love, but decided that having something smaller would be great for smaller jobs. (Like the mini-batch of pesto that I made tonight.) (Which was delicious, by the way.)

Not exactly a meat thermometer, but I still got to use my coupon. (And the coupon is still valid for another couple days, so I could potentially still use it. But I might shop around first.)

I'm open to other suggestions of things I can make.

Lately

I was surprised when I realized I haven't blogged in like a month and a half. I hope I still have readers out there.

There have been lots of things I've thought about blogging about, some I even started, but never got around to it.

But let me catch you up on the last two weeks, as it's been the most eventful. There's just a lot that happened.

First. This summer I've been working on research. My main goal is to finish a project I started working on while I was at STScI. I worked a lot on it back then, but it wasn't publishable yet, as we were waiting (and waiting, and waiting...) for STScI to come out with better calibration files for the relatively new instrument. ("Why would we get decent flats out for WFC3 when it's only been up for 18 months?") They came out with them literally 2 weeks before I moved to Virginia. Then teaching started, and I had no time. But I still worked on this project on all my school breaks, trying to make progress. But in reality, not moving fast enough. During that time, the data went into the public archive. When school ended, I attacked it full time. I'd made some good progress in the last month.

My former supervisor at STScI was at a conference last week. The first day of the conference, he ran into a member of a competing group. This guy informed him that they had a paper coming out very soon with our data. My supervisor sent me an email to that effect. The subject of the email (appropriately so) was: "Scooped!"

My life over the next week was a lot like this:

Only with more crying.

I still haven't seen their paper, so I don't know if anything I've done is still publishable, or if it's all in vain now. We'll see soon, I suppose.

Second. This happened a week later (so this past Monday). Around 9:45am, I got a call from my department chair on my cell phone. (I was still at home.) He told me that, while he didn't have details yet, he had learned that the professor in our department who was teaching the non-calc intro physics class during the second summer term (which started last week), didn't show up for class that morning, and was in the ER. He wanted to know if I would be able to cover the class, starting the next day. (Or, he said, if I needed time to get my wits about me, we could wait until Wednesday.) I agreed. (Hey, I suddenly had a lot more time, right?)

He called me again 30 minutes later with more details. Professor had been in a bad car accident, and was being flown to the hospital at UVa in Charlottesville. It looked like they'd need me to take over the remainder of the class. I agreed. I said I would be ready to start the next day. (Tuesday.)

I was worried about Professor. He occupies the office next to mine, and he and I would talk often. He gave me a lot of help and advice as I attempted to navigate my first experience teaching physics. Sometimes he would just come by to say hi, or tell me a joke. Often when he would leave at the end of the day, and I was still working busily, he'd stop in my doorway and say, "It's time to go home." He was probably the oldest non-emeritus professor in the department, and his health had degraded somewhat in recent years. Any injuries could be serious.

While all this uncertainty was happening, I had to turn on teacher mode. Summer term at JMU is intense. The term is only four weeks long. Class meets for 3 hours everyday. Exams every Friday. One day of class is like a week during the regular semester. Missing Monday was going to be tough to make up. And this class, second semester non-calc physics (E&M, optics, and modern), is a TOUGH one for the students. Fortunately I just taught it last semester, so the material was fresh and I had everything ready to go. However, there were tons of logistical things, like getting me access to blackboard, the online homework system, and re-configuring my powerpoints for 3 hour lectures, rather than hour-long lectures. (Honestly, I think anyone who takes this class during the summer is certifiably insane.) And what about all the work they did last week? Their exam from Friday, and quizzes during the week? (I didn't know where they were.) Lots to sort out and figure out, and not much time. But the good news is, since this is the second summer term, and the second half of the class, the students I have are those that passed the first half. (There are 14...whittled down from the term last month.) So my students are good and know what they're in for. (But let's be honest...no one REALLY knows what they're getting into when they start studying E&M.)

I survived the first week. We got back on schedule. The students are being great about it and helpful. We're going to get through the next few weeks together. Honestly, despite the extra stress, I'm just so glad to be able to help the department in this way. This week it seemed like every time I walked down the hallway, the other faculty would say to me, "Thank you so much for taking this class."(And you know they were also relieved that they didn't have to.)

As I was leaving Tuesday, we got another email from the chair. Professor wasn't going to make it. He never regained consciousness. He passed away on Wednesday.

I don't know what to say. I still don't really. Professor had one of the most brilliant minds in the department. Or maybe of any other department anywhere. He'd taught here for over 30 years. He was an amazing teacher, and had so much knowledge and wisdom that he was willing to share when asked. (I certainly took advantage of being his office neighbor on more than one occasion.) And all of it was gone. Just like that. It didn't seem possible. This is a huge loss for our department.

This is one of the comics he had hanging outside his office door. It was appropriate because this was totally him. Anytime during faculty meetings, whenever I'd look over, he was almost ALWAYS sketching diagrams and writing equations out.

In the meantime, I've got to keep focused on keeping the class running. Just over two weeks left. Still lots of things to figure out. (Like how to incorporate the stuff they did last week -- which I finally got Thursday morning -- with the stuff they'll do here on out, etc.)

The second exam went as scheduled for yesterday morning. (I used and revised one of my own exams; I don't have his exams.) Professor's funeral was scheduled for the same time. I wanted to attend the funeral, and sent an email to the entire department seeing if anyone was not going (or had a trusted student) who could proctor my exam. Seemed like no one was available, most people were going. Then I found out the chair had forwarded my email to the chair of the chemistry department, and one of their profs is covered it for me. I was very grateful. So I was able to attend the funeral yesterday. It was the first time I'd ever attended a Jewish funeral. It was beautiful and moving, and at times heart rending. Just such sad circumstances. My heart really goes out to his family, especially his wife.

While it's been a stressful time, and will continue to be as I work to finish up the term and then get back on track with research. But I'm sure everything will go fine with the class and me. And who knows, my career will probably even survive the setback from being scooped too, and maybe I'll actually figure out some answers in my soul searching. I certainly have some renewed perspective. But I know that the department at JMU will never be the same. We've truly lost a giant, and he will be greatly missed.


Here's a local news story about it, including some comments from other professors in the department. There was supposed to be video with it; I saw the reporter, and asked her if the video would be online. She said it would be, but I can't find it. :( Anyway, it's worth a read:

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/JMU_Professors_Remember_Don_Chodrow_159967725.html

DC Cherry Blossoms 2012

We've had an unseasonably warm winter, and as a result, the cherry blossoms in DC were out a bit earlier than normal. Since I was already heading to work my normal every-other-Saturday shift at the temple in DC this past Saturday, I made quick plans to stop by and see them. I was a little worried when I heard there was a rally planned on the National Mall that same day, but the crowds didn't end up hampering my travel at all. And I lucked out with the weather, since the rain held off until just as I was leaving.

Here are some pictures of the tidal basin and Jefferson Memorial:





Some close ups of the blossoms.



Washington Monument in the background:

Proof I was there. (Fortunately there were enough people around that someone was willing to take my picture.)


Here's to springtime! One of my favorite times of the year.

Home Internet

I mentioned in my last post about how I don't have internet at home, but that I was getting it installed this week. Well, they came this afternoon and got me set up. I'm posting this from my laptop, AT HOME. This is the happiest of days.

I was more excited than I thought I would be. Last night I was having dreams about it. Ahhhhh! It's like sweet, sweet freedom. Now I can be more productive and unproductive at home than ever before!

Now to remember how to set up my wireless router... (Here's hoping it still works and is compatible with my modem. I bought this router like 5 or 6 years ago and haven't used it in at least 3.)

And yes, this should mean that I will post on my blog more often...


UPDATE: Wireless works! I got it up and running.

New Haircut

Last week I finally got around to doing something I've needed to do for awhile. I got my haircut. I found a salon near campus that had good reviews on Google, and I liked them a lot. And their prices are so cheap, I feel like I'm in Utah again. I've found myself a salon. Wahoo!

My hair was getting too long to be manageable (which also means the curls get weighed down and don't curl very well). I decided to cut off a lot, like 6 - 7 inches, maybe 8. I think the length is super fun and I like the spring I have back.

Here's a picture:


Also, this week I'm doing another thing I've been needing to do for awhile. I've decided to finally get internet at home. I imagine you're thinking one of two things (or both): (a) Wait, you've lived in your apartment for over five months and haven't had internet?? (Answer: yes. I don't have a TV either.) (b) How did I possibly go this long without internet at home? (Answer: Well, I do have it on my phone, so I'm technically not without internet. But sometimes not having it on my computer was annoying.) Maybe I'll write more about that later, after they come to install it on THURSDAY this week. I can hardly wait. I think my life is about to change.

Also...I just noticed. In the background of that picture you can see my cupcake painting. I blogged about it once. Yes, it's hanging proudly in my room.

The Thermodynamics of Sarcasm

We've got one week left of classes the semester (yay!!) and so my classes are winding down. The last unit in my physics class is thermodynamics. Last night I finished the last homework for that class (I like to make sure I work all the problems before making my students do them) and got the assignment posted. As I worked problems about heat engines and entropy I remembered why I hated my thermal physics class so much. (Although looking back, I wish someone would have told me how useful and important statistical mechanics was in astrophysics. I mean, seriously.) But as I went home (driving my car with an internal combustion engine) and turned on my heater to warm up my cold apartment, I was grateful that someone loves it, as thermo actually is a pretty important part of our lives. (*end physics teacher PSA*)

As I'm preparing my final three lectures, I actually pulled out "Thermal Physics," the text we used for my senior level, undergrad thermo class. I randomly opened up to a page, and laughed at all the notes I wrote in it. I don't actually make notes in textbooks that often. After leafing through a few pages, it was clear how silly, sarcastic and maybe bitter (about the material) I was while in this class. (Remember that one problem that had like 15 parts?! And the time Kevin drew an analogy between particles moving to an evacuated space and letting loose third graders from one side of a gym when there is a table full of sloppy joes on the other?)

Anyway, I just have to share a few of these gems with the blogosphere.

The first page I saw today. Clearly my mind was on energy and entropy as I read.

I also noticed that a common theme was that I would write notes in the margin, as if I was having a conversation with the author. (Who I have, incidentally, met in real life, since he teaches in the physics department at Weber State where my dad taught. But our encounters were all way before I became a(n) (astro) physicist.)

And in this one I like the edit of "statistical mechanics" to "sadistical mechanics."





One of my sillier moments....

I still haven't read that book....

But as you can see, I wasn't sarcastic or bitter about it all the time.


So on this cold, December day, I'm grateful for thermodynamics and heat engines and the transportation of heat. And even more glad that I'm not the one that has to work those problem out. (At least beyond the intro physics level!) (Of course, I likely just jinxed myself to get a job where I'll eventually be asked to teach thermal physics. Blergh.)

The one where I remember I have a blog

I had this realization on Monday that Thanksgiving is next week. NEXT WEEK! How did that happen? I have absolutely no idea. I just finished up my last lecture before the break, which means it's 9am and I am DONE!!! (Except that I'm never really done...I always have something I should be doing.)

So what have I been up to in the last, oh, month since I posted? Most of my life is consumed by teaching and trying to stay on top of lecture prep, grading, homework/test writing, etc. Even though things have gotten a lot better since the beginning of the semester, I've still been snowed under most days. (Actually getting access to the instructor resources and changing my physics class over to the online homework system (=no grading!) made my life SO much better; that was the time I got to start sleeping again.) It's been crazy, but I'm loving teaching, so it's not all bad. Let me give some random updates.

1. My physics class. I still love it. I love it more all the time. I'm strangely surprised by how much I love it. I can hardly wait for next semester.

2. My GSci class. It's going okay. I'm realizing that I tried to cram WAY too much in over the course of the semester. And teaching things I'm not an expert in (e.g., chemistry and geology) might not have been the best idea I've ever had. I'm actually looking forward to that class being over.

3. My physics students all want to take the second half of the class (E&M) from me. My section was the first to fill up, and I still had 19 of my current students request overrides. (The department admin was awesome and let them all in.) This is in addition to at least 5 or 6 students I help in the learning center who talked to me about wanting in, but might not get in. (At least not right now; maybe at the beginning of the semester when everyone is shuffling again.) This makes me feel good because I've put so much into the class that it's rewarding to know the students appreciate it! And that they like me.

4. Science Math Learning Center. I tutor there 2 days a week (3-4 hour shifts) as a part of my teaching load. This is a total throwback to my days in the tutorial lab as an undergrad and I really love working there.

5. I almost lost my perfect schedule for next semester. There was a scheduling snafoo and they had to do some last minute shuffling and almost took my physics class away from me. I almost cried. (Literally.) I convinced them to let me keep it. (I mean, having taught the entire physics series DOES help my CV and I AM looking for jobs.) After I convinced them they almost switched me to teaching a different section. (After all that trouble of getting all my students in my class?!) That change would have had me teaching everyday again, instead of my now-scheduled T/Th. But in the end, it all worked out and my perfect schedule is in tact. Whew. Next semester is once again awesome: teaching non-major astro (second half, JUST stars, galaxies and universe, awesome!), and physics. Both classes T/Th, done by noon. I can't wait!!!

6. I've never eaten out more in my life than I am right now. And it's not good eat out, it's like fast food eat out. It's terrible. I don't even like eating fast food that much. (Okay, that's a lie. But I don't like the way I *feel* after I eat fast food that much.) Every once in awhile is fine, but I prefer to eat real food that I cooked myself. Especially given how much I like cooking. But my brain is mush most of the time, and I can't even remember what I like to cook. And actually taking time to cook something? Yeah right.

7. I'm trying to have a social life, kind of. My social life tends to revolve mainly around my church friends, and there aren't many people here in the singles group that are my age. As a result, I'm outsourcing to Charlottesville where the LDS singles group is bigger, and people are more like me. (i.e., not 18.) I've been going to the family ward (congregation) here, but driving there for Institute each Wednesday night and other random activities on weekends.

Two weeks ago I decided to take the plunge and officially transfer my records to the ward there. Since Charlottesville is still in my stake, it's totally allowed. When I talked to my current bishop about it, he said, "I understand and I support your decision." Ha! Anyway, it's a lot of driving (about an hour each way), but it's worth it to have some semblance a social life and to actually be able to meet people. Sometimes people are surprised when they hear that I drive that far and they think it's not worth it. But those are also probably the people who haven't lived very far from the singles ward epicenter. (Like me, previous to this.) It's actually not that big of a deal. The drive is beautiful and it's nice to have some chill time.

8. I'm still working at the temple in DC every other Saturday. I really love it, although it also adds up to a lot of driving. (I usually drive there in the morning, work 12:30-5:30, then drive home that night. It's a 2 hour drive each way.) Good thing I got my car fixed before moving here! It's been running like a champ.

DC temple at sunset last weekend:

9. I love my apartment. It's perfect for me right now. Sometimes I miss having a roommate, but I probably wouldn't be a very good roommate right now anyway. I'm actually amazed at how well I do at keeping my place tidy. It's almost fun to keep an orderly house. Or maybe it's easy because I'm not there all the time. I don't own a TV and I don't have the internet. I'm actually amazed I've lasted this long without the internet. I have my phone to check email and Facebook at home. I'm getting really close to giving in though, especially with all the job apps and stuff coming due, and not wanting to stay at work to work on them.

I haven't posted any pictures of my place and I need to! So here are some pictures. Sorry I don't have more.

Kitchen:

Bathroom (this is the first time I've bought a fun shower curtain and I really like it and want to show it off):

Living room, including my couch!

Better shot of my couch. I've fallen asleep on it more times than I'd like to admit. (I'm sort of pathetic/ridiculous right now.) It's so comfortable.

I haven't decorated yet. I'm hoping to get to that over the break. I am going to try and continue with the National Park Series of photos and blow up some pictures from the adventure Michelle and I had this summer in Utah.

10. The sister missionaries serving in my ward here are like my bffs. Ha! I have them over for dinner every other week or so. The first time I did, I chattered on and on, you'd think I was stressed and deprived of human company. (That's probably true.) They thought it was a great time though, and came back. One day a few weeks ago I came home (late, as usual) and was surprised to find they had heart attacked my door. It made me day.

11. I finally went hiking in Shenandoah, although it was a quick hike on a Friday afternoon. The fall colors were stunning. I have no idea why I haven't been living there this fall. And I get to use my National Park annual pass, which is so awesome. I love having it so much that I might buy another when it expires in April, even if I only live by one national park. I just really like being someone who has a National Park pass.


12. The shelves in my office are still completely empty. I haven't had the energy yet to drag all my boxes of textbooks up here. It does make for a convenient excuse when those people come by my office trying to convince me to donate and/or sell my old textbooks. (It happens more than I expected.) "Hi, do you have any textbooks you don't want?" *pause* "Oh, I see you don't have any textbooks." Ha!

Most boring office ever. I'm actually getting embarrassed when students or colleagues come by. Goal over the break: bring up my books.

13. Right now I'm not good at doing things that I used to be really good at. Examples: I've gone to the gym roughly 3 times this semester. (I've been a faithful 5-days-a-week gym goer for at least the last 6 or 7 years.) I don't drink enough water. (The water fountain is just SO FAR AWAY. And I forget to drink it when I have a jug of it on my desk.) I'm a few days behind on writing in my journal. (Will catch up over break.) I often fall asleep on my couch at night while working, waking up in the middle of the night and then going to my bed. (Except Wednesday night when I slept on the couch all night, because when I woke up, I didn't feel like going to my bed.) I'm kind of pathetic. But what can you do?

14. Jobs. Oh man. Applying for jobs is the bane of my existence. And here I am, in the throes of it again. Why does it feel like I just applied for jobs? Oh yeah, because I *did* just apply for jobs. My job here ends next August, so I need a job for the fall. The department is hiring a tenure-track position, but they seem to really want a computational theorist, which is not me. They're also hiring another temp position (2-3 years), but after a recent conversation I had with another prof here, I don't know if the department would actually hire me. He wasn't purposely discouraging me from applying, just advising me to "be careful," since being in a temp teaching (not research) position for 3-4 years might look bad on my resume when I try to get a permanent job. (I know, academia is weird.) So one of those, "we're making you leave for your own good." I don't really know.

The learning center here is also looking to hire someone full time to split time between being the physics faculty tutor and teaching classes in the physics department. (The current guy just got hired full time as the planetarium director.) My supervisor told me about the job opening and I think they'd love to keep me working there, and it does sound awesome. Although I don't know, because it would mean no time for research and it's not tenure track (but likely not going away). I just haven't decided yet if that's a track I want to jump on. Or rather, I haven't decided if the full professor track is one I want to jump OFF. I actually really love working in the learning center and sort of wish I could have it both ways.

I'm applying for a mix of small college/university teaching jobs as well as a couple post docs. Sometimes I think doing another post doc would be good for my career, so that I can gather research momentum again and form some more collaborations. But....I don't know if I really want to. But it might be what's best for me in the long run. Sigh. Don't know! We'll see how things play out this year.

Since I've been so buried with teaching, I'm behind on applying and I've actually missed a TON of deadlines. But I've finally combed the job listings and now have a solid list to work from right now. I'll be working hard over the break to get things together.

15. Research. Yeah, this so hasn't happened. I'm still mad at STScI for wiping all the software off my laptop. I've lost a LOT of time trying to get up and running again. Anyway, I have this awesome data set on a globular cluster that I need to publish, but I have to redo all the photometry measurements since HST released new flats (calibration files) right before I left. Blah. And the data go public soon and there's a real threat of being scooped. Double blah. I imagine my supervisor at STScI is going crazy. He emails me sometimes to check in on how it's going and I never have good answers. Triple blah.

16. I'm addicted to frozen yogurt. I'm not even kidding. This semester they opened one of those self-serve fro-yo type places between my house and work. I go there several times a week. Sometimes I eat frozen yogurt for dinner. My favorite flavor is cake batter because it makes everything I put on it taste like cake. Oreo cake! Brownie cake! Chocolate chip cookie dough cake! Kit kat cake! (And if you know me, you know I kind of love cake batter, especially dry cake mix.) A couple weeks ago they ran out of punch cards, and so they've been giving people a punch on their receipt to be transferred to a card when they come in. It's been like 3 weeks. I haven't counted how many I have, but I'm almost too embarrassed to turn them all in for real punches once they finally do get the cards in. Before that I filled up two punch cards.


17. You know how I love the Cracker Barrel? ("Where comfort meets food!") Well, on the two long drives I do regularly (i.e., to Charlottesville and DC) I pass THREE each way. (Three different ones.) I've been wanting to go for like 3 months. Finally I broke down and went two Fridays ago. I put my name on the list, and they would call people over the loud speaker as so: "Cracker Barrel would like to welcome Carla, party of three." Or "Cracker Barrel would like to welcome Daniel, party of six." I thought, oh man, how lame am I going to look when they announce that I'm a party of one? Well, the hostess realized that and said, "The Cracker Barrel would like to welcome Elizabeth!" Awesome! I wanted to tell her thanks, but she was talking to someone when I went by. And my chicken friend chicken and biscuits were awesome, by the way.



Okay, well that's about it. I literally have no plans for Thanksgiving, and the funny thing is that I can hardly wait. (I have gotten an invite or two for the actual Thanksgiving day dinner though; don't feel too sorry for me or anything.) Last night I wrote on my fridge white board my goals for the week. I will get lots done! I will be a productive, balanced person again! If only for a week.

Settling in

I survived my first three weeks of classes. It hasn't been easy!

I wasn't expecting it to be easy, but I figured since I've taught before (two semesters of adjunct stuff), that I'd be more prepared than I otherwise might be. Maybe that's true, but what I didn't realize was that the relationship between number of classes taught and the work required does not scale linearly. (That is, doubling the number of classes from one to two more than doubles the work and stress level.)

My schedule consists of teaching two classes and working twice a week in the walk-in homework lab (two 3-hour shifts). Tutoring counts as one course in my teaching load, but seriously -- a set 6 hours a week is way less time than I'd spend on another course, so I'm happy!! I'm teaching College Physics I (algebra-based/non-calculus) MWF at 8am and General Physical Science (GSci, like Physical Science 100 at BYU) for non-majors T/Th at 2pm. Teaching everyday means a new lecture to prep everyday. It's not great. And having an 8am class is really not great. (If you know me....you know I really don't love waking up early.) Also, I'd prefer to have both classes on one day and then do other things on the other days.*

Initially I figured teaching GSci wouldn't be so bad, as it's a similar audience that I've taught intro astronomy to before, and I really enjoy that. I was a little nervous about physics, mostly because I haven't thought about this stuff in longer than I care to admit. But the truth is, I'm enjoying teaching physics a lot more than I thought I would. In fact, I really like it! Maybe more than I like GSci. (It's possible that I've really, really missed doing math. I love math!**)

Initially when classes started I was really having trouble balancing everything. Okay, honestly, I still am, but it's getting better as I'm starting to settle into a routine. There's just so much work to do, and there is ALWAYS work to do. Though unlike research, which is also never done, the stuff I have to do MUST be done NOW. I have to give this lecture tomorrow; I have to grade this homework to return tomorrow; I have to have this test written by next Tuesday. I am LOVING the teaching; I love being with my students and talking about science. I want to do a really good job and doing a good job takes as much time as you let it. Since I have to prep a new lecture everyday, I feel like I'm doing almost nothing else but prepping lectures. Except now I also have homework assignments to create/grade and exams to write/grade. Some nights I stay up really late, some days I get up really early. (Or both.....a couple times I went to bed at 4am then went to campus at 6am.) I'm learning how to reach the point of "good enough." (I also finally got access to the instructor materials for the textbooks I use. Seriously, no one tells the new person anything! Wow, instructor materials sure help!)

Now that I'm 3 weeks in, things are starting to settle down a bit. When the semester started, everything just started happening at once and I felt like it was all that I could do to stay afloat. (Honestly, I'm not sure how well I did at even that.) The good news is, overall I feel like my classes are going well and my students are happy. (Well, as happy as can be expected.) Aside from almost sleeping through my 8am class two weeks ago (alarm didn't go off, and I woke up at 7:55am....was in class by 8:05), I haven't had any major foul ups yet. Thankfully.

I'm still working at getting my schedule back in balance. I'm trying to sleep more. (Got 12 hours on Wednesday because I had a free evening!) I've only gone to the gym once in the last 3 weeks, so I'm working on that too.

I like to put pictures in every post, so here are some. I love cooking, so I've spent some of my time on the weekends doing that. Some of the things I've cooked in the last 3 weeks or so:

Whole wheat bread; great recipe I've made before, but it didn't actually taste good because I think my flour was too old. :(

Chili, with a side of Physical Science reading.

Margherita pizza; good, but too much oregano in the sauce.

Butternut squash soup with homemade French bread, yum!!

Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan.

This looks fancy, but it's not really. It's just chicken sauteed with vegetables (yellow squash, zucchini, onions, and tomatoes) sprinkled with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese. I've decided that real Parmesan cheese makes everything look fancy AND taste better.

Oh, and one of the best! Homemade cookies and cream ice cream made without an ice cream machine! Amazing recipe (although a little sweet), what a great find. (My sister Sue found it on this website, if you're interested. The possibility for flavors are endless! I want to try more.)

I made chocolate chip cookies too, first thing made in my awesome kitchenaid! I don't have a picture of them, but here's a picture of my beautiful kitchenaid.

And basically I really need someone to come eat my food with me.

Anyway, I really need to get back to work. I have two homework assignments to grade and a physics exam for next week to write before the weekend is over and I want to get an early start. Oh, and I promise pictures of my apartment are coming soon. (I still have a lot of stuff all over my bedroom, so I'm waiting to take pictures of everything until that's taken care of.)



*Like prep my classes. Or, I don't know, like research. Someday I might do research again. Oh, and also start applying for jobs in the next few weeks, since my position here is only set to last a year.
** I realize that statement might make me sound incredibly nerdy, but....I have a PhD in astronomy. I'm a professional nerd with the degree(s) to prove it. And I'm okay with that.

Moving to Virginia

I have arrived in Harrisonburg. It's a little weird that I live in Virginia now. There aren't very many pictures in this post (sorry), but I figured maybe someone out there might be wondering how things went with the move.

So let me catch everyone up a bit. I got everything packed and arranged to move my stuff down on Tuesday of last week. There were six of us there to move my stuff up into the rented moving truck and it took about 2 hours. (My apartment being on the 5th floor slowed things down; I mean, I don't even own that much big stuff -- not even a couch.) Once the truck was loaded (and thanks SO much to everyone that helped me load it!), my friend Emily drove down to Harrisonburg with me. Even though I had rented the smallest van Ryder had available, I was still really not jazzed about driving such a big vehicle. The hardest part was getting out of the city, but once we were out and on the freeway, it wasn't so bad.

We arrived at my new place around 4:30. My landlady met me there to give me my keys, and Emily and I started moving in. We were also lucky because the ward's missionaries showed up to help us unload everything. My goal was to just get everything out of the truck and into the apartment because we were going back to Baltimore as soon as we were done. The setup was much faster, and it took the four of us less than 45 minutes! Yay!

We then drove back to Baltimore. We were making so much better time on the day than I expected! We got to the place to return the truck and got it returned with no problems. Emily and I planned to take the bus home, no big deal. We used my smart phone to look up bus routes and times. It was about 9:30 at that point, and we asked the attendant how to get to a particular intersection to catch this bus. He looked a little concerned (not sure why, we weren't in the super sketch part of Baltimore or anything; maybe because it was far?), but told us. (Kind of....he didn't know where the intersection we were looking for was, but knew where to catch that bus at another stop. Sure, fine.)

So Emily and I started walking (I should also mention that we were both dragging utility dollies behind us, since I rented them from a place in town, since the truck place didn't have them; and they were LOUD). It took about 20 or 30 minutes to walk there. Long story short, we missed the bus. So we waited another 30 minutes for the next bus. The next bus showed up, along with another of the same number (but ending route in a few more stops). The bus driver opened the doors, looked at us (and the other two guys waiting), closed the doors, and drove away. WHAT?! So we all got on the other bus and the driver said, "I'll try and catch him!" But he didn't try very hard (it was clear), and when we got to his last stop, he shrugged and said, "Sorry."

So we all got off the bus. The other 2 guys seemed much less irritated and were like, "*Shrug*, I guess we'll wait here for the next bus." Pfft. Emily and I were supposed to take that bus to transfer, and discovered that the bus we wanted to transfer to picked up there. Okay, not all was lost. The driver directed us (sort of...rather poor directions) to where to pick up the next bus. So we walked over, dragging the dollies behind us. We arrived at the stop, though it was still a little unclear as to whether or not we were at the right place. (The direction of the bus was unclear, and we were in unfamiliar territory.)

The schedule online (checked my phone, whose battery was getting dangerously low) said the next bus we needed was a 40 minute wait. We were so tired by this point (it was after 10:30) and we were contemplating what to do. About a block away we saw a bus that I was pretty sure had the number we needed, but I couldn't tell if it was inbound or outbound. We figured we had time, so we decided to walk over and see. If nothing else, the driver could tell us if we were at the right place.

So we dragged the dollies all the way over, and asked the driver. (The bus was parked there; I guess the stop was the end of his route?) Without looking at me, he said, "The stop you were at is the right one." We thanked him and dragged the dollies back over. Within about a minute (no exaggeration) of arriving back at the stop, we saw the driver change his sign (indicating he was now inbound -- the route we needed), drove over to us and picked us up. Gah!! Why is the Baltimore bus system so crazy?!

Anyway, we didn't have anymore major mishaps, although we had plenty of funny MTA moments on the eventually VERY crowded bus. (Who takes the #22 into Baltimore City at 11:30 on a Tuesday night?! Apparently LOTS of people!) But we made it home. Yay! It only took us 2.5 hours to get across town! (By the way....it took 3 hours to drive back from Harrisonburg.)

So that was the adventure of moving my stuff. I finished cleaning and other odds and ends things (including getting my car fixed, yay!) and then drove to Harrisonburg on Thursday. And then I stayed there. I got on the road kind of late (due to my car being fixed, but it was worth it!) and so I stopped for dinner on the way. I pulled off at some little family restaurant in West Virginia. It was the kind of local experience I was hoping for. And the food was surprisingly good. Especially the free bread. WOW. I ordered a bowl of chili and couldn't resist trying these corn nuggets that I'd never heard of. They were surprisingly good.

This is the picture I had in my head as I ate the corn nuggets. Emily C, this is for you.

I'm gradually getting settled into my new apartment. I really like my new place. And Harrisonburg is nice, even though it's a much slower pace than living in the city. I spent a few days working on unpacking and getting oriented with the things I need to do. This week I've been going to a ton of orientation meetings, and it's exhausting. Monday after day-long new faculty orientation, I went to the opening bbq for faculty. Here's a view from campus that I liked.

I'm still working on getting my apartment together. I'll take pictures once my new couch is delivered (can't wait!!) in a couple weeks. (It was on back order.) (Can't wait!!)

Bejeweled

Remember how I recently posted about dejunking my stuff in preparation for moving to Virginia? I'm pleased to give a progress report, that I've actually been doing a good job! Right now I have 3 garbage bags and 2 boxes full of stuff to give to Goodwill. Additionally, I've condensed six boxes of stuff into 2. This includes tackling my horribly unorganized box labeled "Electronics" that was a mess of tangled cords. I wound up and put twisty ties on all the ethernet cords, and finally got rid of cell phone chargers from 2 and 3 cell phones ago.

My de-junking project tonight was inspired by one of my college roommates, Auburn. Auburn showed amazing foresight on more than one occasion. I remember how she owned an iMac, and I was baffled that it had no floppy drive. "How are you supposed to get files on and off?" I asked incredulously. "The internet," she said. "It's the wave of the future."* I had a hard time believing this (I mean, seriously...no floppy?!), but it turned out to be prophetic.

The occasion that inspired me tonight was also back in college. I remember Auburn bringing all her CDs into the living room and then spending the next few hours taking out each CD and its cover and putting them all into one of those big CD books. (You know, the kind with plastic pages.) After she finished doing that, she threw out ALL THE JEWEL CASES. I thought, "Yikes! But the jewel cases! How can you display your CDs?" Again, Auburn proved to have more foresight than I. But in this case it took me longer to realize the uselessness of jewel cases than it took me to realize that the internet really was the future of file transfer.

I mean, fine, keep your jewel cases if you have a fancy display case. But do I have one of those? No. My CDs have been sitting in a box for at least six years.

Inspired by Auburn's example, I tackled the CD box. It's a heavy box. In fact, I weighed it tonight. It weighed 25 lbs. That's a heavy box to carry all the way to Virginia. (Metaphorically.)

I took the box and spent a few hours taking out CDs and covers and putting them into a CD book, and tossing all the jewel cases into a bag. I filled an entire garbage bag with jewel cases. Anyone need some jewel cases?

The finished CD book weighs 10 lbs. That means I have lightened my moving load by FIFTEEN POUNDS, just by getting rid of these jewel cases. Isn't that the best thing ever?



* Might not have been her actual words. But that was the general gist.**
** Also, I realize this conversation makes me sound really old, but I promise, we did have the internet when this conversation took place. We also had floppy disks. Well, I did anyway.

Funeral Potatoes

It was recently (July 24) Pioneer Day. It's an official state holiday in Utah. Every 24th of July we have parades, picnics, and fireworks to celebrate* the day that the first Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake valley and established a community that would later become the state of Utah.

Although it's primarily a Utah holiday (you can understand why), Mormons everywhere like to think about Pioneer Day on July 24 to reflect on the immense sacrifices of those pioneers (and be grateful that we didn't have to walk from Illinois to Utah pulling handcarts), as well as to think about "modern pioneers" who also make sacrifices to join the Church.

So anyway, this year Pioneer Day was on a Sunday, and my ward (congregation) normally has a potluck meal after church on the fourth Sunday. So this month the theme was to bring "Pioneer Foods," or just cliche Mormon foods in general. I decided to bring one of my favorite dishes, funeral potatoes.

For those of you not familiar with the dish, funeral potatoes are a type of a casserole that combines shredded potatoes with creamy things like sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and cheese, and tops it with crunched up corn flakes. They're amazing. The name is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and refers to the idea that they are nearly always served at the luncheon that follows a Mormon funeral.

I woke up early that morning to make them before church. They were super easy, and I got them right in the oven. When I pulled them out, I thought, "I should take a picture. This might be the most beautiful pan of funeral potatoes mankind has ever seen." I don't doubt that's true. But I didn't have time. I was running a bit late.

So I loaded the hot dish and my other things into the back seat of my car and headed to church. As I was driving, I approached an intersection. (It was 33rd and St Paul, for any Baltimoreans out there.) I had a green light, so went to cruise through it. But then the oncoming driver decided it'd be a good idea to try and turn left before I got there. They severely misjudged the situation, and I had to slam on my brakes and swerve to avoid hitting them. But, the good (actually great) news is, we avoided colliding and both drove on our way.

However, there was some bad news. Remember that beautiful pan of (hot) funeral potatoes I had sitting in the back seat? Unfortunately, the pan responded as predicted by the laws of physics (curse you Newton!), and slid forward to the edge of the seat, and dumped right into my church bag (which was sitting on the floor). I pulled over as soon as I could (about a block) to rescue the pan and perhaps salvage the contents of my bag. (Mostly my spiffy new heels that I had put in my bag, as 5-inch heels aren't very easy to drive in.) I was in a hurry (oh yeah, I was conducting Relief Society today, and already going to be late), so I couldn't do much besides put the pan back on the seat and rescue my shoes as well as the items I needed for the Sunday School lesson I was teaching. (Oh yeah, that's my other calling.) At red lights I cleaned my shoes out with napkins in my glove box. (I had plenty, thanks to my addiction to McDonalds ice cream cones.)

So what's the point of this story? The point is, despite the mishap, half of them remained in the pan and still salvageable, so I decided to serve that half anyway. People liked them. Except that most of what dumped out was the crispy corn flake topping, which we all know is the best part! I had a couple requests for the recipe, so here's the recipe I used:

Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 bag shredded hash browns (thawed)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups cheese
• 1/3 cups diced green onions
• 2 cups corn flakes crumbs
• 3 Tbsp melted butter
  

Directions:

1. Mix together soup, sour cream, green onions and cheese.
2. Grease a 9x13 pan. Put the potatoes in the pan.
   
3. Pour the soup mixture over the potatoes.
4. Combine corn flake crumbs with butter. Sprinkle evenly over entire top.
5. Bake uncovered at 350* for 45 minutes, or until bubbly.
   

Notes:

• I substituted plain yogurt for sour cream because I'm like that. You can't tell the difference, I promise.
• If you want, you can mix the potatoes with the soup mixture before putting them in the pan. Either way is fine.
  
• Honestly, this recipe is extremely forgiving, just make sure you have the basic ingredients; you can fudge most the rest of it.

Well, I didn't take any before pictures, like I said, so you have to just imagine what the most beautiful pan of funeral potatoes known to mankind look like. (Sadly, I'm the only one that saw them.) But here are some pictures of the aftermath. Sorry, no pictures of the car pre-cleaning. (And seriously, my friend/visiting teacher Emily K is a saint, she really did most of the cleaning of the backseat. Ashlee also helped clean my front seat, where I had (perhaps stupidly) put my bag at some point.)

Post-accident, pre-serving. Trust me, they were more beautiful.

My bag is in a sad state. I threw it away. After continuing to bake in my car for a couple hours, I decided it was unsalvageable/not worth salvaging. Sad, I know.

I should have taken a picture of my new shoes because they are seriously amazing.


* One of my favorite commentaries on Pioneer Day festivities is by Eric Snider, who used to write a Dave Barry-esque column in the BYU paper when I was there. In his column, "Born on the 24th of July," he says: "My beef is with Pioneer Day festivities -- fireworks, parades, flag-waving -- all of which were ripped off from the Fourth of July, just because they're close to each other on the calendar. If the pioneers had gotten here in December, we'd celebrate it by giving gifts and decorating trees. If they'd arrived in October, we'd all dress up like pioneers and go door-to-door asking for rations of flour. Frankly, when it comes to thinking up original holiday-celebrating ideas, we suck." For the complete column, go here.