I’m a little unhappy with my post about last weekend, our crazy Chicago to Madison to Chicago weekend for two graduations. I feel like I reported, but didn’t really express everything I was thinking and feeling. This is a tiny bit due to my desire to protect the names of the individuals involved, but primarily, I think, due to my lack of skill as a writer.
Let’s see if I can do better on this week, the week when I got back to Madison at noon on Monday, and was on my own with the cats until Wednesday night, and finished grading on Tuesday, and had to give two presentations, and had what I am sure is the worst cold sore I have ever had erupt on the upper right corner of my mouth on Tuesday night, the night before the day I had to address the largest audience.
Here’s what’s still left of it on Saturday. It still hurts.
Monday I had my first single girl dinner of the summer, now that Megan’s moved out. Not unlike last summer, when Megan was working in Milwaukee. I had single girl dinners Sunday through Wednesday, every week when Mark was at work in Chicago, and Rach was not here, like this.
Tuesday I met Andy for coffee first thing. I learned lots of interesting stuff – he’s got a show coming up at Woodland Pattern – I’m hoping to go down to Milwaukee for the opening next week. He also told me about this photography book club, that he goes to, and I’m going to try to start. The next book is A Choice of Weapons, by Gordon Parks. I guess it was an everybody reads one book selection in Minnesota. Then in to work for a website committee meeting – we seem to have turned a corner with these – not so divisive, and they’re not asking me to try to make Word Press do stuff I’m not sure I can make it do. As much. The big news about Tuesday was that after all the meetings, I had enough of a chunk of time to finish grading – yay! and even to prep a bit for the talk I had to give Weds. It meant I skipped a retirement party for a person I respect, but don’t know that well, and then instead of biking to the library, I drove. It was still cold.
Me and the cats – Khan got a little too enthusiastic licking his salmon, and knocked the saucer it was in off the counter. Corel, so it kind of exploded.
Wednesday was the 2016 Teaching & Learning Symposium, the conference at which I had to make a few remarks at lunchtime. I think it went OK. After, I came home and didn’t mow the lawn, went for a little bike ride, and watched TV. Mortdecai had finally made it to Amazon Prime, and I actually thought it wasn’t as bad as the reviews said – it was entertaining enough for a couch potato evening.
Teaching & Learning Symposium panel discussion – I was the next speaker at that podium where the moderator in the blue shirt is
Thursday I had to go do another reflection (here’s the first one; I was more prepared, but look awfully puffy – sinuses I think – and still wearing make up to cover bashed face) about what I learned in How To Teach Good Online class. I was in the 2nd cohort, and I guess they got funded for a third, so the workshop facilitators were pretty happy. That was at 11:15 – a post conference at the T&L Sumpo. Then meetings all afternoon. I came home and made cauliflower gratin and salad for dinner.
On Friday, I was in no hurry whatsoever to get to work. I took off on my bike towards work, and back tracked away from work to photograph the Ploeser’s irises. I’d seen them on Thursday, when I was biking home from picking up some lettuce for the salad at Whole Foods. There was a really bright cardinal flying around me on that part of the ride, too. It’s been so cold, but we’ve made it to that time in the spring when the blooming trees and forsythia and lilacs and tulips are basically done, and we’ve moved on to leafed out trees, and irises, and spiria. Anyways, I felt like it was my harbingers of spring ride.
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I kind of wanted to go see the Sadies at Majestic, but Mark suggested a movie. Sing Street, by the guy who directed Once. It was similar – a little sappy, but romantic, and funny. Music saves the day. We thought about the early one, at 4:25, but he had an online meeting that went long. In the end, it worked out better, going to the later one, even though I didn’t make it to the Sadies. Which I guess is kind of ironic. We got in a nice walk, snacked before the movie, and had trifle for dessert when we got home. (I made the small half of that cake that we didn’t eat on graduation Saturday into trifle with lime syrup and marmalade spread on the cake, amaretti crumbs sprinkled in, and rhubarb sauce and vanilla pudding poured over.)
Little after work / before movie snack on Friday afternoon –