In the afternoon, I was FINALLY done with the most pressing of my administrative duties and I was debating about taking a nap at my apartment vs going to the pool. I called my friend to see if she wanted to join me at the pool, and she was in the midst of cleaning. However, she was strongly in favor of my going to the pool instead of taking a nap. So, I did! It was a fabulous, fabulous suggestion!

I FINALLY feel like I’ve started my summer break. It was really glorious.
I did make the mistake of not putting on sunscreen on my chest (I DID put it on my face), because I didn’t think I’d be out there very long. But I ended out there longer than I’d expected and got a tad sunburned. It will heal pretty quickly, so I’m not kicking myself too hard.

Today, I’ve got a couple of last things to do at school related to my research lab, but then I’m pretty much free again. I’m thinking about cleaning my office. It is really disastrous right now. I’m also going to spend some time getting plants. Can you believe I haven’t actually planted annuals yet???! This is the first year I’ve delayed so long. I DID put in some pansies back in January or February that are still going strong, because I keep picking off the faded flowers (and watering them). I really thought they’d be dead from the heat by now, but I guess they are hardier than I’d expected!

I’d forgotten how gorgeous some of the flowers have been in previous years until I was looking at them on my Flickr stream. Here was one of my favorite years (2008 in MN).

These daisies continue to be one of my all time favorites.

This was 2007 in MN.

I don’t have a great photo from 2009 in MN. Just this one of a rabbit who’d hopped up the stairs to investigate the flowers.

Last year, the flowers in pots at my apartment flowers started quite small.

But got larger over the course of the summer.

Who knows what I’ll pick up today. Guess we’ll see!

I intended to finish my self-evaluation on Friday and Sunday, but I was so freakin’ burnt out on Friday, that I made very little progress on it. I spent the morning reading and editing a manuscript for a journal submission for which I was the second author (out of 3) instead. That seemed to use up all of my brain power on Friday, but it was well worth it, because we submitted it yesterday! Now we wait for the reviewers to review it. It was only a “brief communication” with 3 figures, so hopefully we will hear back soon.

Then, I got together with my good friend and we went out to supper, shopping, and to a local piano bar for the evening. It was a ton of fun! I found a dress for this coming Saturday’s band performance. I needed another outfit that shows off well “on stage,” and seems casual enough for a party, but dressy enough to be worn by a performer in a band. It is rather tricky to find that sort of thing, honestly! But we did! yay! And it was only $50, which was a pretty good deal.

Saturday was lots of commencement-types of stuff. It had rained a lot last week, which made the whole outdoor commencement-thing quite challenging for our grounds and facilities crew, but they pulled it off. It was amazing! And it was a good thing that commencement was outdoors, because about 80 students were the first in their families to graduate from college. A good portion of those students had over 15 people in attendance (some were as many as 30-40 people). If we’d had to have commencement indoors, they would’ve been limited to 10 people. So, it was really great to have it outdoors with unlimited seating.

Sunday was great as far as church went. Good sermon. Great music.

And Monday (yesterday) I had a migraine for most of the day; it really sucked. It ended up storming here, so more than likely my biggest trigger was the change in barometric pressure and out of my control. But still, not a great way to spend a day “off” of work. (especially since I’d planned on finishing my self-evaluation) Oh well, I’ll work on it today instead. I did feel well enough last night for band practice. But dang if my head isn’t bothering me some still. I wish the storm would just get out of here!

Tomorrow I have a workshop for a course I’m teaching in the fall. But I’m planning on taking Thursday and Friday off, off! yay! Getting closer.

I submitted grades about a half hour ago (4:30 pm). I had them calculated by 3:30, but I always like to mull them over a little bit before entering them into the system officially. There are always those borderline students, and I really have to get comfortable with the idea of the grade that they’ve earned. It’s hard for me since they are more than just a name and an ID number. So, I went to a local coffee shop and ordered a dark chocolate mocha and sat there with the list of grades; it was good to think it all through.

Now I can go collapse for an evening.

Oh, and the title of this post is in reference to the fact that I did drop one of the balls that I’d very, very reluctantly accepted this year (it was sort of shoved at me). But the good thing is that our administrative assistant is really fabulous, and she pretty much picked it up for me. As one of my aunts told me in an email, I suppose that is why they are called “assistants.” Thank goodness for her!

I’ve posted this photo before, but it seems appropriate right now.

Too much to do and not enough hours and motivation to do it. I’m pretty burnt out, which makes it hard to write exams and do grading right now. Where are the exam and grading elves when you need them?

School has taken over most of my waking hours. And the small amount of hours that are not dedicated to school are ones that I fill with time with family, band, and church.

This time of year is hectic, because we are headed into finals on Friday (May 4). Which means that every quiz, exam, homework assignment, or lab assignment that I’ve given this semester needs to be graded RIGHT NOW. And grading is the thing I like the least about my job. So, it is tough to do it.

The things that keep me going are the times I get to spend with family, with the band, and at church. Band stuff has been really fun and exciting lately. We had our 2nd, 3rd and 4th official performances within the last couple of weeks. We were the entertainment for a dinner and silent auction for our school’s Relay For Life team. We were the entertainment for a really terrific monthly happy hour that we do at school. Mom and Dad got to attend that one!

And last night, we were the entertainment for a party that was auctioned off for $3200 to raise money for a local charity. It was a really, really cool venue and cool party. I made some new friends, met a potential donor for my research, and our band has now been invited to play at a local place for a paying gig! It would be our first paid gig! woot woot!
I’d love to take in some money to pay for the music I’m buying from iTunes to learn these songs, the tambourine I’m about to buy, and the “band” clothes that I’m buying. I’ve also been borrowing Texas Seestor’s boots for now (Thanks again, Texas Seestor!!), but I also need to really buy my own. Seestor-ly love only goes so far, and stretching it to borrowing boots is pretty far.

The music we are performing is just getting more and more magical. Each night a different song sounds better than we’ve ever done it. We’ve been practicing together for about 4 months now (most weeks we practice 2-3 hours), and we are getting to the point in our songs where we don’t have to think about the notes and the timing, and can really have the nuances that bring out the magic in the music such as changes in dynamics, changes in tempo, and harmonies that are tighter than ever.

Chills abound.

My voice is getting stronger and better sounding with all of this singing. It has more depth to it too. And I love practicing and performing with the other band members. They are just a fabulous group of guys.

Should I start with the lows? the highs? or just go back and forth in chronological order? goodness knows.

Well, you know me, chronological order tends to win out most of the time.

It was really great being back to school this week. I had my prep for my classes ready to go, so I didn’t feel as rushed for my lectures. Some of the students in my Genetics class (the ones who’d given me the balloon and chocolates) asked me how my birthday had gone. In general the first day was fun as we all exchanged “how was your Spring Break?” stories.

Band practice was really great. We basically stopped and ate supper during part of it, because the wife of our amazing lead guitarist just came back from a trip to Costa Rica, and she wanted to try to make some of that cuisine for us.
I’m singing lead on the Doobie Brothers’ song “Listen to the Music” (and playing tambourine, of course). It came together really fast!

Sounds like all highs, right?

Well, then Max was really, really still on Thursday morning. He hadn’t eaten all of his food and hay (like normal). He didn’t want to jump out of his cage, didn’t care when I fed him, AND didn’t care when I gave him cheerios. His left eye was sort of watery.

I really thought he might be dying of old age. Max is 7 and the lifespan of a rabbit is 8-10 years usually. (some say up to 12, some say as low as 7)

It was a rough day until I could get home and check on him again, and get him into a vet who sometimes does some teaching at school. Max was running a fever and might’ve had a respiratory infection. So, they gave him a shot of penicillin. He seems much better, but still sounds a bit wheezy, so I’m probably going to take him in for another shot today.

I had intended to use most of my day to write an exam for Genetics, but with the emergency situation with Max, that got pushed back to the evening. Which meant I had to skip my bible study group.

And THEN I hit Friday.
Lecture was great. Chapel was great. Discussions about rearranging the course schedule for the fall were all great.
Then I had an impromptu 45 min walk-through about chemicals and the way that they are stored in the lab. I basically “inherited” a nightmare of a situation with regards to the chemical storage. We have an EPA audit in April.
I don’t even know how to describe how awful the situation is, other than to say that A) it is going to cost 10s of thousands of dollars to get the chemicals that need to go disposed of properly and the ones that need to stay inventoried properly and B) hours and hours and hours of time.
I’m actually canceling my labs for Genetics this week in order to deal with it all.
THAT was a LOW LOW LOW point.

The one thing that offsets the awfulness of it all, is that the lead singer in my band is the one in charge of all of it, because he is the head of facilities. He inherited the situation too when he took this job. So, at least the person I’m working with on this is A) a good friend, B) someone I can call directly on a cell phone if needed, and C) is sticking up for me if needed.

The other highs?
I have been nominated for an endowed professorship (one year), which comes with a stipend of money that I can use for going to conferences or my research!!!! yay!

And last night when I was trying to unwind at my apartment complex by using the hot tub, my friend (neighbor) came by and asked if I wanted to go see the Hunger Games! She had 2 tickets that she’d purchased in advance, and the other person wasn’t going to be able to go after all. It was a GREAT movie!
I haven’t read the books. Texas Seestor and Trainwreck only have them on their Kindles, so there is no way for me to read them right now, unfortunately. But that is okay, for now, I REALLY enjoyed the movie. It was way cool.

Ok. I think I’ve got to figure out what I’m going to do about Max and this second shot and all.

Last weekend, I celebrated my birthday with my family. I drove up to Austin on Saturday morning and had breakfast with everyone. We shopped, played games, napped (yay!), and I had a fabulous steak dinner with appetizers and a margarita! yum!
After supper, we tried to burn off some of the girls’ energy by having them walk/stomp/skip around the block while singing songs. It was fun. We sang “skip-to-my-loo” a lot. We sang “Old MacDonald” and “When the Saints Go Marching In” also.

After that, everyone sang happy birthday to me and we had cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream!!!

I was trying to recall the last time I had a cake with my name on it. I think the closest thing would be my thesis defense for my Ph.D. which had my name on it.

Who can forget the chocolate peanut butter cake that we had that day??? Not me! Oh man, was that ever good.

Anyway, I digress.

The rest of the weekend was really great too.

AND THEN!

On Monday morning, my actual birthday, ViolaGirl and I packed up and drove to Fredericksburg. We had lunch outside at a really great sandwich place. They had amazing fries. We headed out to a local park to hike Enchanted Rock only to get caught in a line of cars of all kinds of people who wanted to do the same thing on their spring break. But we saw our first wildflowers while we were waiting.

We made a strategic decision to drive out to Wildseed Farms instead and check out the wildflowers. Here is one of my favorites from that trip.

There are many more on my Flickr set.

After that, we chilled out and had a glass of wine and talked some more in the patio of the bed and breakfast where we were staying. We got gussied up and went out to a bar/restaurant that had outdoor seating and a live band playing blues/rock. Most people were just drinking, so we really didn’t have any hopes of getting a table where we could hear the band, because they didn’t look like they were leaving anytime soon. But after about 10 minutes, a group got up and some tables became available! We had a really fun time. And I got to have another margarita along with my Pacific salmon and rest o’ my meal.

After we’d hung out there for a while, we headed back to the hot tub at the B&B to star gaze, drink wine, and eat more chocolate cake (I’d brought my leftover b-day cake with us).
We actually saw a shooting star!
On my birthday!
I think it was the first time I’d truly seen a shooting star and been sure of it and not just had someone else tell me that there had been one. It was really cool.

The next day, we had a fabulous breakfast at a local coffee shop and headed out to hike Enchanted Rock again. This time, we made it into the park and to the summit!
The thing that surprised me most about the rock was not barren at the top like it was as we were headed up! There were all kinds of depressions in the rock that held water and plant life. They are officially called vernal pools.

I found them really fascinating.

We did other hiking, shopping, and more eating of yummy foods. But those were the best parts of the trip. ViolaGirl and I just had a total blast together. It made us realize how much fun it is to go out too!

We actually went out last night to bars in our local town. We scoped out 5 different ones to see where things seemed the most lively. One of them now has a Rock piano bar with drums on Thurs, Fri and Sat nights! We went there, of course. It was so much fun! And now for another first: last night was the first time I’ve been hit on by a guy at a bar! What a fun experience.

You have to realize, that since ex-HB and I met in high school, I didn’t go through the usual stage most people go through where they hang out at bars and get hit on by guys. So, this was quite novel.

I mentioned the bands I’m in to this guy and he was particularly fascinated by the Praise Band. So I ended up writing down the name and location of the church on a bar napkin. When he asked for my number, I told him, get this, that I’d give him my number when he comes to my church.

ha!

ViolaGirl thought that was hilarious. It was truly inspired, I have to say. By God? I’m not sure. But I’m happy with that decision. I wasn’t really ready to give this random guy my number. But hey, now he knows where to find me if he is really interested in me. ViolaGirl wants to use this strategy in the future too. She thinks it would weed out the guys who are just sort of interested from the guys who are really and truly interested. too funny.

And now, I need to get out of my apartment. They are jackhammering the building next to me in order to make a business center/fitness center, and they did it all day yesterday too. I’m headed to the coffee shop, I think. And then I’ll head out to Mom and Dad’s for the day to spend more time with everyone!

Today, I had a wonderful surprise after my two genetics lectures!
One student made me a tin of peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips.
Another couple of student bought me chocolates, a card, and a Happy Birthday balloon!

I would consider this one of the perks of teaching for a couple of years where the students get to know me (and (evidently) like me). It really has made me happy.

And Spring Break begins tonight too! Since my b-day is on Monday, that means that I’ll be off work for my birthday. How fabulous is that?? I have plans to go hiking, stay at a B&B that has a hot tub, and eat those chocolates that the students gave to me.

We ended up just making the whole night a bit of a hybrid of our 2 bands. We all went ahead and sang/played on all of the songs regardless of whose repertoire they were really in. The drummer and bass player caught on really fast to the songs that my band usually plays. I went ahead and attempted to sing harmonies on everything that is in the other band’s repertoire. Most of it was stuff that I know pretty well like Peaceful Easy Feeling, Margaritaville, and Brown-eyed Girl. But a few of them were a bit less familiar, like Toes. I was told it is a Zac Brown Band song, but it sounded like Jimmy Buffett to me, so I’m not sure what was up with that one.
For one of them, Susie Q, I pretty much just played tambourine to it, because I really couldn’t think up a harmony. The bass guitarist/harmonica player complimented me on my tambourine playing, so I guess I did well with that one too.

At one point, CK had us switch over to doing songs that were in our band’s set list. It was a LOT more comfortable for me, and probably for him, to be doing songs where we didn’t have to work so dang hard at figuring out what we were doing.

I went ahead and debuted my solo on Landslide last night with CK’s and AG’s prompting, and it went well! I didn’t have any vocal hiccups, which will really help me go into it in the future feeling confident. The entire song is in my lower register, which was an intentional choice when we chose the song and key. I think I’ve mentioned this before that when I get nervous, my head voice gets wobbly, but my chest voice always remains strong. It is such a melancholy, emotional song. I’d love to find some low songs that are more upbeat; that can be rather challenging.

We also sang Bubba Hyde last night and it went really, really well. It was a ton of fun. CK and I think we need to find some more songs with that kind of sound. It was SO much fun!

Did I say how much fun it was?

I continue to have more work than hours in the day, but I think that I’ll be able to catch up today and tomorrow so that I’m not so far behind. Some people are confused by how a professor can teach a couple of hours a day and have too much work to do. I suppose I used to not really understand either. Some of it is that designing quizzes, grading quizzes, writing exams and grading exams takes hours and hours of time when they aren’t just scantron (bubble sheets).

Some of my time is filled up meeting with students. This week for example, I advised a club for which I’m a sponsor – that ate up an hour of “free” time really quickly. I advised a freshman who wants me to be her official advisor. I advised a senior who asked me to be her mentor for her senior capstone project. I advised the students who are doing Honors Genetics projects. And I advised a student who was in the middle of a disturbance that occurred in a lab that needed to be reported to the department chair (and has already been officially reported).

Some of my time is filled with running lab. I easily spent 8 hours or more this week dealing with lab stuff: cleaned out the failed fridge/freezer, ordered supplies for the rest of the semester, delegated/helped by TAs get solutions and equipment ready for next week.

Then there are the hours that I spent doing committee work for the search committee. That is about to come to an end, which will help.

And various 10-15 minutes here and there coordinating info with my colleagues related to summer research, fall class schedules, upcoming scientific conferences, classroom behavior problems, etc. etc.

Several days this week, I literally had 15-30 minutes “free” when I wasn’t in meetings, lecture, or lab. And I’m supposed to get grading done amidst all of this? Or lecture prep?

And this was a better week!

Tonight, I’m singing at a last minute gig that came up. The lead singer is sick in a fellow band (the other band that our lead guitar player is in), so the lead singer in my band is going to fill in for him. And then I’m going to go and our band will do some songs here and there. It is all a bit tenuous right now in that I don’t know how much our band will really be singing and playing at this fundraiser. BUT even if it is just a few songs, it will be good to get our name and sound out there. It is also good for us to to perform together in some “low stakes” settings. We’ll have a sound person, so that ought to help with sound quality and balance.

Well, it is 8 am, I just heard my clothes washer click off which means I need to move stuff to the dryer, and I ought to work on all of that lecture prep and grading for next week in my attempt to get caught up!