Monthly Archives: August 2008

Why, hello there!

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Summer feels so OVER. It feels fall-like, the folk festival is over, the students are starting to stream back into town, and the LLBean catalog is making me want stuff like a "fleece-lined hoodie" (chocolate, yum.) Anyway, I have a bunch of stuff that's been floating around, and none of it is really connected, but yeah, hi!

I've lost the Bloglines love and totally converted to Google Reader, and so should you. Well, you don't HAVE to, but I love the layout more, and the adding of subs more, and especially the sharing stuff. I can share professional links really easily, and that is SO great, to have my professional stuff and personal stuff in one place, but without the risk of cross-pollination. I mean, my faculty doesn't need to know I read the Superficial, right?

I kind of really want an iPhone, except I will not be getting one. We don't have 3g, I don't want to pay for the data plan, and really, if they'd just add a camera and GPS to the iPod touch, well, that's what I really want. (And rumor has it the update on 9/9 will have GPS on the touch…) My cell carrier was sucked up by Verizon, and there hasn't been a change yet, but I'm already contemplating a shift, just in case.

I lost and kept off 10 pounds using WW earlier, but didn't want to pay again, so now I'm looking at online fitness thingies. Like gyminee, fitday, sparkpeople, etc… I don't really want to count calories, as much as track stuff like exercise, vitamins, veggies, etc, and have some place to weigh in every week. For free, of course. Any other recommendations?

I ordered a new stroller. Which, yes, Ingrid is 2+, and I've loved our Mac Techno since she was born, but the Mac Volo was released in Orange in 2007, and has been singing to me ever since. It's ridiculous, really. Then someone posted a link to a NIB one on ebay for 75 bucks, total, which is a steal in the Mac world, so I sprung for it. I felt better about the impulse buy (that I'd been considering for over a year) when we went to the festival and I saw kids that were older than Ingrid being pushed around in strollers that are unwieldy and huge. An 8 lb stroller with a shoulder strap (and did I mention, ORANGE!) will be a great solution for the toddler-preschooler outings where the walking and strolling are switched off. Plus, ORANGE! I'm beyond excited for it to arrive. Dumb. I know.

I've been going to the Y for a year! I don't know that I'm any visually different, I guess my pants are looser, maybe, but I definitely feel stronger, and HELLO, I GO TO THE Y now.  NOT ONLY do I go to the Y, I just signed up for my fall session classes of Group Power, and added BELLYDANCING. I am so excited. It's at 745 on Tuesdays, so basically when Ing is in bed anyway, and just kind of a wacky thing to do, I think. I'm also doing elliptical machine on the days I'm there for GP, too, and I dunno, I go to the Y! That's huge, that I even go. That I have the little tag on my keys now. Crazy.

I took Ingrid for the library for the first time, as a patron, and she loved it. She is so great.

I am teaching two sections of a 1cr class for first-years, to foster college success, which is a RIOT since I failed out of college on my first try. But in talking about this, it turns out, a lot of people I know did the same thing. Which led me to have the epiphany that success isn't about doing it right the first time, it's just as much about picking yourself back up and doing it right the 2nd time. Or the 3rd. Or whenever. I feel like, all considered, I'm a pretty successful person. I get hungup a little bit that I'm not a success in the area that everyone, growing up, thought I'd be, but… damn. I'm only 33! Life is short! To be successful in the area I'm in, well, that field didn't even exist when I was in high school. Weird.

I wrote a letter to my city council and the city manager this week, constructively criticizing their horrible website. (Basically, it's mostly .docs and PDFs. Even the "directions to city hall" are a word doc. Grr!) and within 15 minutes of hitting send, the manager called me directly, was awesome, and we ended up setting an appointment to meet today, which was great. It was so great to be taken so seriously, based on both my writing skills (it was a pretty good letter) and my technology expertise. I had this moment of "holy shit, I'm a grownup! Professional! I'm being taken so seriously and it seems like just yesterday the bike cops were chasing me out of West Market Square!!" I can't wait to see the website change, and know that I was really instrumental in making that happen. Citizens of Bangor, you're welcome.

There was probably more. But it's time for bed.

Just to remember

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In case I forget — language stuff.

Last week, Ingrid added the R to her own name pronunciation. So it evolved from Innid to Ingid and now Ingwrid. (I add the w, because there is a hint of that in there right now….) Her 'yes' evolved from Yeah to Yes to okay to Tay and now to Yip!

Flamingos- Fingalos Elephant – Elphalant Animals – Aminoles. Guitar – Gotar. Gretchen – Gwreshen Dave – Daves Giraffe – graf Cherries – Chewwies Squirrel – Whirl Paul and Sirje (neighbors) = People and Cereal Computer- pooter Washcloth — lockoff (which we think sounds like someone in a russion army, which we've changed to 'General Lokov,' or "summoning the general," means 'get me a washcloth….')

Words that just sound cute when she says them: Hello! (often said with a level of eagerness not matched in other words), Fire Engine, Motorcycle, Bicycle, Telephone.

Also, I have a doc appt this afternoon because I think I have some form of vertigo. Not puking or anything, just having moments when I move a certain way that keeps the room spinning and me not. Very odd.

Professional!

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My friend Amity wrote a really nice post on her blog about me (to me?) yesterday, and it really couldn't have come at a better time. Summer is so odd here, not many faculty are around, it's easy to start wondering if what you do is valuable and important. Or, better yet, if you really are any good at what you do. Sometimes, I read all the professional blogs and tweets and stuff and feel a little like "Oh man, I only have a Master's Degree!" but then again…. I have a Master's Degree!! Because I eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff, it can start to feel like maybe I'm not all that valuable — after all, most of the stuff is just out there for people to find themselves. But again, not everyone knows where to look. Amity is really, really tech-savvy (I have used her sites as examples before) so it's especially cool to be able to help HER, when many of my faculty don't hold a candle to her, so, I don't know, it's good to know that I still have something to offer. That probably sounds weird.

There's more and more talk about moving me to full time instructional technology, and I hope that it happens relatively soon. I've been here a year and a half, in a split position, and it's one of the biggest challenges for me. Because we are a service office, most people assume that they are "bugging me" or "taking me away from my work" when they ask me for help, but really, this is my job! That part of it is in a busy office just distracts people. I'd love to have an office away from here, not too far, with a micro-lab set up in or near it, so that faculty can sit down and work with me. (Currently, we are not at 1:1 faculty laptops.) I'd also like a different schedule. I keep harping on it, over and over, but even just an afternoon a week makes such a big difference in my work/life balance. I get that over the summer (today is my last one, though, sigh) and sometimes I get Ingrid, and sometimes I don't. (She naps from 12-2, so I always get a couple hours to myself before getting her, anyway.) I can run errands, get lunch with Dave, meet Andy for coffee (so hard these days, with our opposing schedules) or just do what.ever. I love it. My ideal would be a 4 day schedule, honestly, but even an afternoon a week would be so great. If I were just doing IT, I think I could negotiate that — after all, there are lots of components of my job (that job) that can be done from home. And then, when Ingrid (and any other kids) are school age, I could shift to working a 5 day schedule, but one where I get out when the kiddos do, to be there after school. A raise wouldn't be bad, either, but if it were between cash and time, I'd choose time right now.

I don't know when the shift will happen, or what it will take, but I do hope it comes around. The more I can do IT and not be distracted by my desk job, the better it will be, I think. Even if it means moving to an office without AC.

Ingrid in a Tutu!

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I made this for Ingrid this weekend. She picked out all the colors, and I tied it up while she slept, and today we went out to play — she played in the dirt, and I played with my camera.

She's growing SO FAST, it's like when she was an infant, her physical growth was always astounding me, and now it's the developmental stuff. She has opinions and shares them. She is playing independently more and more (today, she played independently in her room for the first two hours of her nap, and then took a really late nap…) Tonight we finger painted, and colored with markers, and crayons, and then we went outside and she mastered climbing her climber to get to the slide. Then Dave came out, and we played in the hammock, and with her ball, kicking it and throwing it, and her chasing it around, laughing hysterically. Before we came in for a bath, she ran at me, and lunged, wrapped her arms around my legs and just hugged me. Spontaneously. It was awesome. The spontaneity is just so cool — eating dinner the other night, she stopped and said "Mama, I love you." and then went back to eating. She's just so unbelievable.

Spoooooky

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Spoooooky
Originally uploaded by gretchen04401

We went up to the future preschool (cross fingers, knock on wood) and took pics over the weekend. I also requested (through interlibrary loan) a book about the history of the place, which I think would be neat to read. Anyway, I tweaked with the contrast on this, it’s not actually about to be overrun with a swarm of locusts. Dave and I both love how spooky it looks, though.

Spooky, don’t you think?

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On Saturday, Ingrid and I were in Sears, in the kids’ section, and I saw a guy that looked really familiar. After about 20 seconds of mental debate, I finally just said “excuse, me is your name Shannon?” He looked up and sure enough, it was, and he recognized me and we talked a bit. He had been one of Aton’s best friends, and the last time I saw him was at the funeral. He’d been living in VA, was in the middle of a divorce, and had just moved back here. Ing and I left, and when I got to my car, the car that had parked next to us had a spiderweb painted across the hood.

Aton’s signature thing (It was the late 90s, we were young) was a spider, he used to say his middle initial stood for that, and his big thing was that we were all connected by these spiderwebs, that the invisible threads were all there, blah blah blah we were writing majors blah.

So, seeing Shannon, and then this spiderweb, sort of threw me back to that, and I realized that it was August 2, 10 years to the day that they found his body. It is still making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Daycare Drama

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Ingrid has been in the same daycare since day one, a place we have been totally happy with, with very few reservations. (Cost and teacher turnover — but they were new on day one, so it was kind of expected — are the big ones.) This week, however, she transitioned up to a new room, for 2-3 year olds, and I’ve suddenly started Exploring Our Options. The incidents that bugged me are incidents of privilege, really. A teacher who was playing a book on tape, and turning the pages of the corresponding book, while staring blankly at the children (and not at ALL acknowledging me as I picked up Ingrid…) but, I figure, we all have bad days, who knows, maybe she’s in the throes of a miscarriage or her boyfriend just called with his herpes test results or she really, really has to fart and can’t do it just now. These things happen. The second was today, when I arrived and found Ing’s class in two rows, in a dark classroom, watching fucking Wonderpets. I only know it was Wonderpets because I lingered long enough to get some data to figure it out, but DUDE, I pay a hefty sum to assure that there is no TV. And these kiddos were chiming in on some call and response chant that ends with “TEAMWORK!” (“and also with you…”) that, okay, maybe the other kids have cable and hot, hot Wonderpets action at home, but we don’t, thankyouverymuch. Ingrid was sitting in a teacher’s lap, I can almost guarantee because she didn’t give a shit about Wonderpets and wanted to be hitting the bookshelf just to her left, or one of the cool toy stations. It. Bugged. Me. And I totally get that it’s not like “they murdered rabbits for satan!” level of daycare unpleasantness, but… it’s my kid, it bugged.

Based on incident 1, I made some calls this week to see what’s out there. The options open up when a kiddo hits 2.5, so I toured a Montessori and a preschool-kindergarten today to see what was out there for options. The Montessori was okay, but left me feeling kind of meh, and had hours that were just on the outside of convenient for us. (Ingrid goes 8-4:15 most days, and this one closes at 4:30, but I kind of like having the option to run an errand or have Dave pick her up once a week.) The second place, though, I fell in LOVE with.

It’s in this crazy gorgeous spooky old building overlooking the city, that opened in 1835 as an orphanage. It’s been a preschool for many, many years (I’m not even sure how long, I should’ve asked) but, a long time, anyway. The director is this affable 75 year old retired school principal, who was the first principal of our neighborhood school (he oversaw construction!) and clearly loves children. The teachers have all been there for years — there is very little turnover, unlike the current place, where it seems like one of the three teachers is always changing. He met me with a little simple picture book to bring home to Ingrid, and we talked in the school’s library. (Not a huge thing, but that there is dedicated library space, with quality children’s books — I’m discerning — won me over.) He talked about the staff, the building, the fees, the hours, the programming, all of it, and I am just in LOOOOVE. Ing has to be 2.5 and potty trained before she can start there, but I am really leaning towards making the jump. To help, I want to list the pros and cons, and maybe some of you more experienced readers out there can help me out:

Pros:

  • Better ratios for Ingrid, I think. Current daycare is 19 kids with 3 teachers, this would be 8 kids with 1 teacher, in two separate classroom areas. No doors, I don’t think, just sort of across a hall area with each other.
  • Less expensive, by $25/week
  • Tuition includes snacks and lunches
  • Field trips (I saw pics of the state park we just camped at, some from the children’s museum, and they had just been to the bird sanctuary and were going to a fish hatchery next week.)
  • Great playground. The playstructure is commercial (as opposed to a bunch of little tikes plastic crap)
  • EVEN BETTER, the fenced area surrounds the entire property, and the kids are encouraged to play in the woods behind the building. Teachers are up there with walkie talkies to supervise, but that this kind of “dangerous” play is facilitated sings to my little “Last Child in the Woods” heart…
  • We can get two weeks of vacation, in that two weeks that Ing doesn’t attend we only pay half price for those weeks. It’s a little thing, but a really cool little thing. (Current daycare, we pay monthly, no matter what.)
  • Still very close to our house. Dave can still do dropoff; instead of a straight line of home-daycare-work, it might be more like a checkmark.
  • Close to the Y, so I can easily go to the Y after work and do pickup and not have it eat a lot of time.
  • Hours are 6:30-5:30, very similar to current daycare’s. (Better, if we were ever people who were awake AND needing childcare at 6:30…)
  • Warm. The staff and director and kids just seemed very calm and warm and like a good place to be, you know?
  • Really cool building. I got tours of all three floors, and knowing some of its history, it was just totally amazing to imagine it as an orphanage. GORGEOUS city views (it’s just below the standpipe, which is my favorite landmark ever, of course.) It’s older than the current daycare, for sure, and has that old-building-smell, but it’s laid out well.

Cons:

  • It would be another transition, and away from several kids that Ing has been with for the last two years. Not sure how much that would matter to a 2.5 year old. (But, the director said they get quite a few folks from our center, so maybe some of those friends would defect, too?)
  • No infant care, so if Hypothetical #2 was conceived and arrived perfectly on an ideal schedule, we’d be looking at 3 options: 1) taking 2 kids to 2 childcare centers, 2) looking for a home caregiver that could watch Ing around public Pre-K and take care of infant at home 3) move Ing to a center that is infant-preK. Of course, it took a year of TTC to get Ingrid, so she could also end up going to K when we need infant care again.
  • Can’t start til 2.5 and potty trained, so I suddenly feel like I have to PT in 4 months or else.

That’s the skinny. I just clicked with this place, so much, and plan to take Ingrid for a visit in a few months to see how SHE clicks in there, but the vibe was overwhelmingly positive. I totally have a crush on it.

I do plan to talk to the director of our current center about the concerns from this week, just to make her aware, but I do now kind of wish I could just sign her up for the new school rightnow. Sigh.