Apple Pie and The Universe

Got me thinking

2012-01-30T10:13:00.004-05:00

Cloud over at Wandering Scientist had a lot of really great links to share a few days ago. A couple of them have brought back some terrible memories and emotions from my early 20s. I have written about it, but not sure if I will post it. It's terribly personal, and I don't know if I want it all out there.

Now I feel like I'm stuck a bit in a cloud of darkness. I look at the girls around the university and wonder how many of them were taken advantage of over the weekend. I look at all the guys and wonder how many of them took advantage of a girl on the weekend, or how many of them called a girl a bitch for saying no to a drink or to a dance.

It makes me think of all the things everyone on this planet must have gone through, be going through, and I wonder how the weight of it all doesn't make the Earth implode on itself.

Like Alice, I'm just happy I'm old enough to be practically invisible. I can go for a walk, to the mall, or out for coffee without worrying about what might be said to me (positive or negative). In my late-20s, I mourned the loss of this, but now I relish in it. I am free.

Sharing

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

We were at Evan's doctor earlier this week, and they have this awesome train set. He was the only kid playing with it, so of course he was playing with all the trains (there were 4 or 5 of them). Another kid about the same age came over a few minutes later. We gave the kid 2 of the trains, but of course Evan wanted to take them back. The other kid let him and didn't complain.

I know this is how kids this age play, but I couldn't help feeling bad about Evan taking the kid's trains away. So, I pulled out the "Evan, we should share" card, knowing damn well he doesn't know what this means. We kept giving the other kid a train or two, but Evan kept trying to take them back.

Eventually, we took him away from the table because I didn't want the other kid (and mom) to get upset. Unfortunately, but expectantly, Evan did get upset. Of course he did! He was happily playing and did not get why we were taking him away from the toys.

I know that we did this because we were embarrassed, even though we know it's normal. We didn't want to be the parents of the "bully" or the "selfish one" - that we had to show the other parents we're trying to mold Evan into a perfect child with perfect manners.

I hate doing that - just hate it. I mean, every parent knows (or should know) that kids this age don't get sharing, so why can't we just let them play the way they want to without trying to shove our ideals of how to play "properly" down their throats (as long as no one is getting really upset or physically hurt)?

Interestingly enough, about 10 minutes later a group of four older kids were playing with the train set (Evan was playing with it again at this time because the other kid left). They came, took trains from Evan, and it was all fine. Evan just played in his own corner, and so did the other kids.

The mom of those kids didn't say a thing about "sharing" or anything - she just let them play, so did we, and everyone was happy. Perhaps being a mother of 4, she knew there was no point saying anything, or perhaps she was just tired - either way, I think I have a thing or two to learn from someone like her!

Book Review: Secret Daughter

2012-01-25T07:00:00.001-05:00

My first book of 2012, and also a book club pick, was Secret Daughter by Shipli Somaya Gowda. A woman in India gives birth to a daughter, and is forced to give her up for adoption. A couple from the United States (husband is from India, wife is an American) adopts the little girl. The book intertwines the story of the birth parents, the adoptive parents, and the daughter.

This story goes from heartbreaking, to moving, to frustrating, to heart-warming. There seems to be a "coming of age" theme to it, even though the characters have a wide age range. The importance of family is definitely central to the story, as are love and hope.

I really enjoyed this book as I was reading it, but for some reason I didn't have a problem putting it down for long stretches. Has anyone else read this book and felt the same way? I can't put my finger on it.

For that reason, I'm giving the book a 3.5/5.

The Good

2012-01-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

One of my 2012 resolutions is to be more thankful about our life. The year did not start out well in this regard, with me going through a mini-depression the first week of January. After my parents left, all I could think about was how far away we are from our families and how much that sucks.

But, after being back at work for a couple weeks and getting back to normal life, I'm feeling better about things. After all, there are a lot of great things about our life here:

- We both have really great jobs that we enjoy most of the time
- We both work in research groups that are renowned in their respective fields
- We can easily afford our four-bedroom house in a gorgeous, old neighborhood because the housing prices here are much lower than many other cities in Canada
- We absolutely adore Evan's daycare
- There aren't many places in Canada that have a shorter or more mild winter (BC obviously has better weather in this regard, though I don't know if I could deal with the constant rain)
- We're within driving distance of lots of cool places for weekend getaways or longer vacations

The two things that aren't great right now are: 1) absolutely no family nearby (both our families are small and everyone lives out west) and 2) not many close friends.

Most of the friends we made during graduate school have left the city. I suppose that's one of the perils of staying in the city where you did graduate school: most people end up leaving to get jobs elsewhere. This seems to be a common problem of people in our age group. It's just plain tough to make close friends as you get older. Maybe that's just how it goes: unless you stay in the same place for a long time where you already have a group of friends, you just don't have close friends at this age.

I'm not sure if we can change these two things, if we just have to accept things how they are, or if these two things will outweigh all the good things here. Time will tell, and we're always keeping our options open.

15 Months

2012-01-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Evan turned 15 months. Nothing too exciting or dramatic has happened over the last month.

- He can stand on his own from sitting, and can stand for long periods of time. No walking yet though**...he might be a late bloomer like his mom (I didn't walk until I was 17 months).

- He's cutting his eye teeth right now, so that will bring him to a total of eight (six on top, two on the bottom).

- Apparently him, another boy, and a girl in their room are all lovey for each other. They give each other kisses and feed each other.

- One of his favorite games is to play "Simon Says" - he'll try to get us to do things, like put our arms above our heads or clap.

- Speaking of clapping: I don't think this boy will have an issue with self-confidence or needing reassurance or praise...he claps for himself all the time!

**To prove me wrong, he took his first steps tonight!! (Jan. 20th)

Back Tracking

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Evan has this weird thing where he'll achieve a milestone and then he won't do it for weeks or even a month or two. He's done this with rolling over, crawling, and more recently with talking and standing without support.

I'm not sure if this is an issue or anything - we haven't really asked Evan's doctor about it. We think it's mostly just a comfort thing. He tries things a few times, but then goes back to what he's comfortable with (this was definitely the case when he was transitioning from army crawling to crawling on all-fours).

Back at the end of November, we were so excited because he waved at us and said "hi" a number of times. He then added to his vocabulary with "no" and using "mama" and "dada" in context more and more. But, then he completely stopped a couple weeks later. Just this past weekend he's started saying real words again, and has added "bye" along with certain sounds for things ("ba" for ball, "key" for kitty, "mo" for more).

Is this weird, or did anyone else have a child that did this?

Slow Going

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

About a year ago, I started off on a journey...a knitting journey.

When I heard other knitters talk about how long afghans take, I just thought maybe they were choosing really difficult projects. I could find a pattern that looked really cool, but use simple knitting techniques, so it would go faster. Woolly Thoughts have a lot of patterns that are based on mathematics - so definitely look cool - but use basic knit and purl stitching. Perfect!

Here's how far I've gotten in a year:

Fig. 1: The pathetic amount of knitting I've done in the last 12 months.

Two full pieces (of eight) are complete and I'm working on the third. Not great, considering it's been 12 months and I've done no other knitting. Plus, the only reason those two pieces are fully complete is that my mom weaved in the ends for me over Christmas (thanks Mom!).

One of my resolutions this year is to finish this afghan. In order to do that, I'm going to put myself on a timeline. I'll even be incredibly reasonable about it. Here is the schedule I'd like to follow:

3rd piece: Feb. 15th
4th piece: Mar. 31st
5th piece: May 15th
6th piece: June 30th
7th piece: Aug. 15th
8th piece: Sept. 30
Put 8 pieces together: Dec. 31st

I'm even putting the deadlines in my calendar. That should be easily doable, right? RIGHT?

Grant Success!!

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

We got news yesterday that a grant that my supervisor and I applied for got funded!!

The money will be used for a new outreach initiative that we came up with last summer. It will include developing new workshops and creating a web-based activity for grade 6, 9, and 12 students (primarily, as those are the grades where space science is part of the curriculum).

I'm so excited! This is the first grant application that I've submitted that has been successful. Plus, the group had applied for this grant twice in the past, but hasn't been successful until now. That makes me feel like I've been making an important contribution to the program.

Question, though: only my supervisor's name is on the grant (even though I wrote the majority of the application --- I'm not actually sure why we submitted that way). Can I still put it on my CV?

Appointments: What's the Point?

2012-01-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

The last four appointments we've made with Evan's doctor needed to be cancelled and rescheduled. We always try to make appointments either at the beginning of the day, so we don't miss too much work, but by the time we get the call that they have to be rescheduled, only mid-day times are available.

I don't get this...what's the point of making an appointment in advance if they're just going to be changed anyway? It reminds me of that scene in Seinfeld about the car reservations:

Why Doing a PhD Might be a Waste of Time

2012-01-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

I've mentioned this before, but one of my few regrets in life was forcing myself to finish my PhD even though I knew 6 months in to it that I hated what I was doing and did not want to continue in academia. I often reflect upon my time as a PhD student as a waste of time, and that I could easily be doing what I'm doing now with "just" a master's degree.

I often get a terrible feeling in my stomach when I hear someone is entering into a PhD program...especially if they say they're doing it because they don't know what else to do with their life at the moment. I want to yell "DON'T DO IT!!!" at the top of my lungs, and go into the myriad of reasons why they should, at the very least, think twice about it.

The other day, DH was telling me about an article in The Economist about just that (Doctoral Degrees: The Disposable Academic (why doing a PhD is a waste of time)). This article does a wonderful job of explaining those reasons. DH and I agree that this side of the story is rarely written about, so I wanted to share some of the highlights:

- There is a HUGE oversupply of PhD students. Even if someone really, really, REALLY wants to be a tenured professor, there are so few of these jobs out there that the chances of finding one is ridiculously small.

- PhDs are trained for academia, not industry...so your skill set is shit if you "can't" (or don't want) an academic job.

- "PhD courses are so specialized that university careers offices struggle to assist graduates looking for jobs, and supervisors tend to have little interest in students who are leaving academia."

- "...the skills learned in the course of a PhD can be readily acquired through much shorter courses."

- "Writing lab reports, giving academic presentations and conducting six-month literature reviews can be surprisingly unhelpful in a world where technical knowledge has to be assimilated quickly and presented simply to a wide audience."

- "The fiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes." Universities love cheap labour. Graduate students and post-docs are cheap, will work long hours, and are disposable. "In Canada 80% of postdocs earn $38,600 or less per year before tax—the average salary of a construction worker." (who, by the way, has not spent years and mucho $$ educating themselves for their job).

- "A PhD may offer no financial benefit over a master’s degree. It can even reduce earnings." An interesting example explains how, 30 years ago, physicists were being hired in the financial sector because of their training in advanced calculus, but that is no longer competitive when MBA students can take one such course AND have the requisite business and financial training. Though, the article does note that a PhD in medicine, the sciences, and business can be beneficial over having a masters...by 3%.

- As I stated above, a lot of students continue to the PhD because they don't know what else to do, or are doing it because "they love it". It's even easier to press the ol' snooze alarm on life when stipends are available (being paid to learn seems attractive, even though the going-rate is abysmal). " But there are penalties, as well as benefits, to staying at university. Workers with “surplus schooling”—more education than a job requires—are likely to be less satisfied, less productive and more likely to say they are going to leave their jobs."

- Yes, the pursuit of knowledge is important for society, but "doing a PhD may still be a bad choice for an individual." because "The interests of academics and universities on the one hand and PhD students on the other are not well aligned."

- Students enter graduate school with a naive and idealistic view that universities are dedicated to training the best and brightest, and actually care about the future of their graduate students.
Few realize that the system is fully designed to benefit others.

The article is definitely worth a read - it's nice to hear a more realistic (albeit, fairly negative) viewpoint of the academic world, rather than the one we all hear when being wooed by professors who want more graduate students.

2012 Resolutions

2012-01-06T07:00:00.003-05:00

I didn't do too badly on my 2011 resolutions - 6 for 10 (that's about the going rate with my yearly goals). Here are my goals for 2012 - 12 of them this year:

1. 20 books + review
In 2011, I managed to read 15 books even when I was at home with Evan for the first 6 months. I figure I can bump this goal back up to 20. As per last year, I'll also rate and review each book on the blog.

2. Finish afghan
I was pretty disappointed with my level of commitment to my knitting in 2011. I really enjoy it, and I want to dedicate more time to it. So, my hope is I can at least finish my afghan (which is 1/4 complete) that I started a year ago.

3. Re-evaluate financial portfolio
We put a good portion of money in mutual funds and such a couple years ago, we have our rainy-day savings account, and we have started an education fund for Evan. Some things aren't growing as well as they could be. Now that we both have full-time jobs, we have an opportunity to move some things around and reassess our plan.

4. Be more thankful, stop complaining
We met with a friend of ours over Christmas and, during our conversation, I couldn't help noticing how negative DH and I are about our lives. It's a bit sad, considering we're actually doing very well. So, we need to shut up about it, appreciate the things we have, and not focus on what we don't have.

5. Work on "big plan"
I have an idea on how I can eventually make a living working for myself. This year, I'd like to do some research on the logistics and legalities of this plan to see if it's viable.

6. Try two new recipes per month, and take a baking or cooking class
I really enjoyed my cooking goal last year, so this year I'm upping the ante to try more recipes and to get some additional training.

7. Incorporate strength training
I always have fitness goals, and they always fall flat, but I refuse to let it go. This year, it's going to be more specific. I have issues with my neck and shoulders, and have for a few years. The only time the pain has subsided was when I was working with a personal trainer in the months before our wedding. I want to consistently do exercises for my neck and shoulders to help with this.

8. Monthly date nights
DH and I need to have time to ourselves. It's tough, since we don't have family in town who can help out with Evan. But, I think it's important for our relationship and our sanity to spend some one-on-one time together. We have our January date-night set up already!

9. Be more assertive/take-charge at work
This includes (yet again) getting better at confrontations. In general though, I need to remind myself that I get to make the final call on a lot of decisions, and I can't make everyone happy all the time (and that's okay). It might be good for me to take a class on personnel management.

10. Keep up with deep cleaning
We have cleaners come in every two weeks, which is a great way for us to buy time to do other things. They only do surface cleaning though, unless we want to pay extra. We have been awful at doing deeper cleaning. This year, I'd like to stay on top of it.

11. Fix up front patio and do landscaping in front yard
Our front patio looks pretty horrid. The paint is all faded and chipping, and the color of the deck (red) and ceiling (brown) is not great. There are bushes in front of the patio that aren't to our liking. DH will most likely take a week off in the spring and spruce up this area of our home.

12. Less TV and internet
Every year I put this down, and every year I fail. I don't care though, because I know how important it is to stop wasting my time! I have all these other things I want to do (see resolutions above), and I can't do them if I'm spending my time mindlessly watching TV or surfing the net.

You can read how I am doing on my resolutions page!

2011 Resolution Recap

2012-01-04T07:00:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of 2011, I made 10 resolutions - or goals as I like to call them. Throughout the year, I updated my resolutions page so I could keep track of how things were going. So, how did I do?

Reading: 12-15 books and doing a book review for each
✔ I read 15 books, and wrote a review for each one. You can see what I read and check out the links to each review on my books page.

Knitting: make a sweater, an afghan, and these slippers
✖ I didn't do too well on this one. I did start an afghan and am 1/4 of the way done...and that's all. I'm disappointed in this, because I really enjoy knitting but clearly I didn't carve out enough time for it. I'm going to work on this in 2012.

Activity: find ways to get off my butt, especially when home with Evan
✖ Evan and I took swimming lessons in the spring...and that's about it. I did sign up for kayaking lessons, but they were cancelled. I also tried to start biking more, but that fell through. I'm really, really awful about incorporating exercise into my life, but I know this is something that I need desperately to work on. I need to be more healthy, and this is a big part of it.

Social Mom: join a mom's group or get together with other mothers
✔ I think I did pretty well with this while I was at home with Evan. I didn't join any groups, but I got together with other moms at least 1-2 times per week.

Ask for what I want: at work and at home
✖+ This is an ongoing issue - I do expect people to read my mind, especially DH. I think I made a bit of progress this year, but not as much as I would have liked. These types of goals are also hard to quantify, since it's really something one works on over a life time.

Pumping: until at least 6 months, exclusively if possible
✔ I pumped until Evan was almost 7 months old - for the last month or so, he was on both breast milk and formula as I weened myself. I think that was quite the accomplishment!

Internet/TV addiction: only watch TV shows I want to watch, and only go on the internet when I have something specific to do.
✖ I did horribly on this one. I am a self-confessed TV and internet addict. It is not cool. I waste a lot of time, especially in the evenings, bumming around on the net. We are fairly good at only watching TV shows we like, but we apparently like a lot of shows.

Experiment with cooking/baking: try a new recipe at least once a month.
✔ I tried 16 new recipes this year - some were great and are now part of our regular rotation (like the cream soups), some were a bust (like the turkey soup). I quite enjoyed this resolution!
- Jan. 9th: Banana bread
- Feb. 21st: Cream of broccoli soup
- Mar. 13th: Cheddar Gourgeres
- Apr. 13th: Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta
- Apr. 22nd: Crunchy Chicken
- Apr. 24th: Lemon Bars
- May 20th: Double-baked fries
- June 3rd: BBQ Ribs
- Aug. 7th: Neapolitan pizza
- Aug. 28th: Cedar Plank Salmon
- Aug. 30th: Spinach and Ricotta Mac & Cheese
- Oct. 5th: Turkey Soup
- Oct. 23rd: Potato and Leek Soup
- Oct. 27th: Mexican Style Shredded Pork
- Nov. 27th: Sugar Cookies
- Dec. 11th: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Get some style: reclaim my sense of style - at least before I start working again!
✔ I had a wonderful experience with a personal stylist, and I wrote about it in a series of five posts back in May! I got a different haircut, which I still love, since I can style it in three different ways pretty easily. I love the feeling that I look put together - it still gives me a confidence boost, and I just find it fun!

Great-grandmother visit in May
✔ Evan and I took a trip to Saskatchewan and Alberta to visit with both my grandmothers. They loved meeting him, and the trip was awesome!

So, the final tally is 6 ✔, 3 ✖, and 1 ✖+ (I made an effort, but it's an ongoing change I need to work on). Not bad!

Stay tuned for my 2012 resolutions!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T07:00:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!! I hope your Christmas/winter holidays were wonderful, and that you're enjoying 2012 so far!

Our time off was wonderful - it was so nice having my parents here, and Evan just loved being the centre of attention of four adults. We didn't do anything extraordinary during their visit, but perhaps that's exactly what family time is all about. We talked, played cards, ate, went out here and there, and were constantly entertained by Evan. He was really into the gift opening this year, so Christmas morning was amazingly fun.

Fig. 1: Ripping into one of his gifts!

He has even started walking with a walking toy, and we can tell he really wants to try walking on his own, so we'll see how long it takes before he's running around the house like a crazy person!

Fig. 2: Evan with his new truck, which he can either walk with or ride on. He loves it. Thanks, grandma and grandpa!

Is it just me, or do other people get post-Christmas blues? I find it sad to take down the decorations and lights, and to say goodbye to family and friends. It's like all the happiness and magic of the holidays transitions into weeks or months of bleary, grey, winter. Everyone goes back to life as normal, back to the grind, back to the same-old. It always puts me in a bit of a funk. This year seems to be particularly bad - I've just had this overwhelming sadness sweep over me from time to time over the past few days.

That being said, the time off was nice, but I think we're all ready to get back to our usual routine. Evan thrives on it, and we basically lost it during the past two weeks. I'm sure the daycare staff will be having to correct quite a few routine slips this week!

How were your holidays?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

My parents arrive today, signalling the beginning of the holidays for us. This means much needed time off from work, and also time off from the blog. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and happy 2012 to everyone! See you in the new year!

Fig. 1: Evan's Christmas photo shoot (credit: daycare staff).

December Scientiae - Ulimate Goals

2011-12-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

The last Scientiae of the year asked bloggers to write about their ultimate career goal, what they want to achieve and/or be known for in years to come. We had as many variations of this answer as we did bloggers!

Brigindo, from Dirt and Rocks, wasn’t sure about goals and dreams when the call for post went out. But, after some thought, she realized it might be a good exercise to go through. She questions whether she wants to stay in academia and/or in SouthLife, and what that would mean for her and b. Even though she has no specific plans, it’s “…an exciting place to be.”

Cindy, at Dipper Ranch, beautifully writes in her email: “My ultimate goal in becoming an ecologist has evolved from dreamy days filled with long walks on beaches, in forests, and across fields of wildflowers to learning and sharing how our local ecological systems work. Discovering the subtle plant/animal interactions of The Coyote Brush Highway may have been just a simple act, but it was exciting to me and satisfying to share its mysteries with others. On a day-to-day basis, this is what being an ecologist means most to me.” Read her post about the Coyote Brush Highway, complete with gorgeous photos.

Patchi, at My Middle Years, cannot ever remember having big ambitions or lofty goals…which turns out to be her goal after all: being a part of a larger puzzle.

Barefoot Doctoral is in this science game for the fun (yes, you read that right!)…when it comes right down to it, what more would you want than doing something you love and being a great role model for students?

Over at The Tightrope, Dr. O struggles with the idea of the ultimate goal --- what goal is big enough to be the ultimate, but is also attainable? After thinking about her own life and a life of a friend who recently passed, she realizes her ultimate goal is to always find joy in all aspects in her life. She says of her goal, “Right now, this is the best I’ve got.” I, for one, think it’s a goal we should all aspire too!

JaneB at Now, what was I doing? went into science because she wanted “…to be Dr. Spock, not Captain Kirk or Dr. McCoy.” And not just because Spock was smart, but because of he was awful with people…and it was OKAY that he was awful with people. I love the idea of teenage JaneB fantasizing about “finding new life forms” instead of some stupid boy (don’t we all wish we spent our teenage years doing something more useful?). There are a lot more wonderful qualities that JaneB has learned from Spock, and I think it would be a wonderful world with more Spock-like people the way she has described it!

Melissa, at Confused at a Higher Level, writes about some very excellent lessons she has learned in the past year. Among them is to be true to yourself and your goals. You will be a much happier, and authentic, person if you choose your career goals based on what you love and not on what you think will make you successful.

And me? Perhaps the loftiest goal of all: I just want the whole world to stop confusing “astrology” with “astronomy”.

Thank you for everyone who contributed to this carnival!

14 Months

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's what has happened in the last month in Evan-land:

- Not walking unassisted yet, but getting more and more confident while cruising.

- He said "Hi" for the first time at the end of November. He says Mama and Dada/Daddy more and more (and uses the words in context more and more), and says "No" too. He has a lot of sounds for specific things. He tends to say "ma-moo" for more and "moo-moo" for his soother.

- He can copy our sounds. If he points to me and says "dada", I point to myself and say "mama", and then he'll say "mama". If I point to a tree and say "tree", he says "tee" (though he hasn't used that word on his own yet).

- He is a climber! He can climb up on to all our living room furniture, and likes climbing to the top/back of the couch. He can also get back down from our furniture, and can get down the stairs.

- He definitely has better spatial awareness. If something rolls under the couch, he will get down on his belly to look for it.

- He has pretty good memory - yesterday he threw his soother into the corner, and 20 minutes later he went to that corner to get it.

- Speaking of throwing - boy, does this kid LOVE to throw things. And bang things.

- We're teaching him to be gentle with touching - especially when touching people or animals. He's doing pretty well!

- The daycare had a Christmas concert last week, and Evan was one of the angels. It may have been the cutest frickin' thing I've ever seen.

The Ultimate Goal

2011-12-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

December's Scientiae will be hosted by yours truly. I asked bloggers:

"What is your ultimate career goal? Do you want to win the Nobel Prize? Cure cancer? Build a better mouse trap? What is it that you want to be remembered for career-wise?"

This past summer, I attended (and help organize) a conference on science education at the post-secondary level. The banquet had Adam Bly, founder and CEO of SEED Media Group, as the guest speaker (if you ever get the chance to hear him speak, DO IT!). His entire talk was inspiring - it was almost like a religious experience for me. He makes his living being a big thinker and to get others to think big too. The part that hit me the most was when he challenged delegates to re-imagine their approach to science literacy:

“What if our goal was not the training of thousands of scientists, but rather the education of seven billion scientifically literate citizens?"

This summarizes my ultimate career goal to a "T". When it comes right down to it, many outreach programs are all about recruitment. I get it - we want the "best and brightest" to study in our research area, to continue to grad school, and eventually become scientists or professors.

But, in my mind, this is not what's important. Why should we focus on such a small number of people? For example, there are only about 300 professional astronomers in Canada of a population of 34.7 million. That's 0.00086% of the population. That's not what you'd call a large reach.

To me, science education and outreach is all about creating a scientifically literate society. All 34.7 million in Canada, and all 7 billion (and counting) in the world. I want everyone on this planet to be able to read a news story about "proof" against evolution or global warming and be critical. I want every patient to not take whatever their doctor says as the end-all-and-be-all advice for their health decisions. Hell, I want people to stop using "astrology" when they mean "astronomy".

Is this goal too lofty for one person? Most definitely. Is it something I'm passionate enough to dedicate my (work) life too, to try and change the world one person at a time? Absolutely.

I'm not the type to have "causes". I don't get riled up about politics or religion. In fact, I'm one of those people who can see many sides to many issues, and generally accept the viewpoint of others. But, when it comes to the understanding of science - especially when public opinion matters more and more and when governments are making decisions on what science to fund and what to cut - the level of scientific literacy has to be raised in our world.

O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

No matter what kind of mood I'm in, decorating the Christmas tree gets me into the Christmas spirit. It was always a big deal in my house growing up - I fondly remember my Dad swearing as he put the lights up, having to follow the decorating rules (no hanging ornaments on the lights, never put two ornaments on the same branch, try to put the glass ones in front of lights), hanging the stockings, drinking hot chocolate, and snacking on treats and nuts.

In our apartment years, only fake trees were allowed. We did have one, and we did decorated it, but it just didn't have the same feeling. It probably didn't help that we weren't at home for Christmas, so we didn't get to enjoy it for very long. For the past two years, we have been able to get a real tree, and it's so much better. As much of a mess they make, the experience of going out and picking one makes it worth while (and the smell too!).

Last year, Evan (being two months old) slept right through the decorating. This year, we were hoping we could do it with him. But, by the time we got the tree set up and had dinner, he was overly tired. So, he went to bed with the naked tree up in the living room (to which he said "Ooooo!!!" loudly when DH brought it into the house) and woke up to it decorated. I think this actually worked in our favor, because he hasn't yet figured out that the ornaments can come off. He's very interested in the tree, and gets really excited when we turn the lights on, but all he does is stares and points at different ornaments. That's fine by me! Perhaps next year he can help.

Fig. 1: Naked tree.

Fig. 2: DH's favorite ornament - a glass blow fish.

Fig. 3: My favorite, an old school plane.

Fig. 4: For Cath - the shooting star (came included with a Smirnoff bottle).

Fig. 5: The finished product.

Disappointment

2011-12-12T08:34:00.003-05:00

One annoying thing about blogging under my real name and sharing my posts to Facebook is that there are things I cannot write about without catching shit from someone.

There are some things going on right now that are making me very frustrated and disappointed. They are hard for me to deal with, because there is a possibility of confrontation, which (if you're a long-time reader of my blog) is very scary for me. But, if I don't do something about these things soon, I will continue to be taken advantage of.

Being an adult sucks sometimes.

Done Lists?

2011-12-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

Most of us keep to-do lists - some are more extensive than others. My work to-do list permanently sits on my desktop and is usually about 5-6 pages long. I have it split up into multiple categories, including materials to buy, general tasks, meetings, reports, website updates, grant applications, current large-scale events, current activities in development, activity/program ideas, conferences, recruitment events, and questions and updates for bosses and other meetings.

When I'm done with something, I delete it. I'm starting to think that isn't such a great idea. At least for the big things.

Lately I've been thinking about creating a "done" list. This wouldn't include every little mundane thing I've done, but it would basically be a list of accomplishments...the things I've brought to this position that weren't there before. These would be the things that I could bring up if I needed to write a report about what we've done differently this year, or if I had to justify my existence - or at least the existence of my position.

So, I started a Word file with a bullet list. It's alright, but doesn't seem good enough for some reason. I'm looking for a better way to log this information.

Does anyone else keep a list like this? If so, how do you do it?

Conferences

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

When I was in graduate school, I wanted to go to TONS of conferences, and went to 2, maybe 3 (if I was lucky), per year. And, honestly, it was a lot more about where the conference was and who (of my friends) were going to be there than the content.

Now? I'd be happy to keep it to 1-2 per year. I just don't want to be away from home for any extended period of time. Plus, I'm not going there to party (on the contrary - I get excited about being able to sleep without interruption!), so to make it worth it, a conference needs to have a lot of applicable sessions and/or opportunities to network with other education & outreach people.

The problem is, now that I'm working in an interdisciplinary research area, there are many more conferences to choose from, and many more where having a presence is important (though perhaps not the most useful for me personally). Luckily, we have graduate students and a couple faculty members that are happy to present posters at conferences they are attended for scientific purposes, but I need to put in my time too.

I'm trying to decide whether I should pick 2-3 conferences and go the same ones each year to build up a network (seeing the same people, etc.), or to choose 1-2 constants but change up the other(s) to meet new people. I know I have some time, but I do think I need to set the precedent this year so there are no surprises or unrealistic expectations in the future.

How many conferences do you attend per year? Do you go to the same conferences every year, or try to change it up? How do you decide which conferences to attend?

Is it the 21st yet?

2011-12-05T08:16:00.002-05:00

Because I'm really looking forward to some time off, and that's the day my parents arrive for the holidays. It will be so nice to see them, and I think Evan will really love having them around.

Random tangentially-related news: I hear we might have a green Christmas this year. As much as that would be weird, I don't think I would be saddened by it. Though, I wouldn't mind some snow, as long as it came on Christmas Eve and melted by Boxing Day.

I'm in a grumpy mood today, can you tell? It might be due to the fact that Evan was pretty sick yesterday, and either crying in his crib or asleep but thrashing around in our bed last night. I'm one tired mom-apotamus.

TED

2011-12-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

I'm addicted to TED talks recently. Every day they post a new video, and every day my mind is blown. How many amazing people are there out there, anyway?

Recent favorites include:

A talk using dancers instead of PowerPoint

A woman who lost both her legs becomes a professional snowboarder

How to defend ourselves against asteroids

If you don't watch TED talks, I highly suggest you follow them on Facebook or Twitter, and try to watch daily. All the talks are short (usually under 20 minutes) - perfect for while you're eating lunch at your desk - but amazingly inspiring.

It might be one of my new life goals to give a TED talk...or maybe just to even see one.

Something Blue: A Book Review

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

I love reading "girlie novels" every once in a while. It's like cleansing my pallet between heavier subjects. And, really, who doesn't love some fun reading sometimes?

My most recent "chick lit" novel was Something Blue by Emily Giffin. This is complimentary book to her Something Borrowed. The story picked up where the first left off, but was told from the perspective of the antagonist, Darcy.

Something Borrowed was about how the protagonist, Rachel (the good girl), ended up stealing Darcy's fiance (Dex)...all while Darcy was cheating on Dex with his friend Marcus. Something Blue picked up at the very last scene of the first book, where Darcy finds out about Rachel and Dex, and tells them that she is pregnant with Marcus's baby.

We are all supposed to hate Darcy, because she is self-centered, materialistic, and completely bases any judgement of others on looks, what they wear, and how much money is in their bank account. It works. I hated her in the first book, and I was a bit wary of reading the second because I didn't really want to hear her story.

Of course, in Something Blue, Darcy goes through some trials and tribulations, moves to another country to start over, and in the process becomes a completely different woman and meets the man of her dreams (who was right under her nose the whole time). Believable? Hell, no! Enjoyable to read? Yes! I was addicted to this book and read it in just a few evenings.

For what it is - a light, fun, heart-warming read - I give this book a 4/5.

"Hi"

2011-11-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Last night, during bath time, Evan looked at me, waved, and said "hi". Twice.

It actually took a while for me to clue into what happened. Then, of course, I tried to get him to do it again to no avail. That is, until DH and I were getting him into his PJs, and he did it again. I asked DH "did you see that?". He said he did and it was quite obvious that's what Evan said AND meant, since he looked right at me, waved his hand, and said "hi".

Now that I've had more time to digest it, I'm realizing what an amazing moment that was. That was the first time in Evan's life that he communicated with us using English language in context (he's been saying Dada and Mama for a month or so, but most of the time it's not to either of us, so that doesn't really count). I'm sure his brain has been working on this for a long time, and it just finally all came together last night. He will now never forget how to wave and say "hi".

This is both a huge milestone and a turning point. He has started to communicate with us in a way we can understand, and his vocabulary will just get bigger and bigger. The beauty of the brain makes me want to cry sometimes!

Room: A Book Review

2011-11-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Room by Emma Donoghue was our most recent book club choice. This is a story told from the perspective of a five-year-old boy, Jack, who only knows an 11x11-foot room. It's his entire world. That is, until his Mom tells him the truth about the "Outside".

**Spoiler alert**

About a quarter of the way through, I was starting to get a bit tired of things. There isn't a lot to do in such a small space, and it was getting annoyingly repetitive. But, then the pace of the book changed quite rapidly when the mom started talking about trying to escape. At that point, I figured the rest of the book would be about that. So, imagine my surprise when they escaped about half-way through the book!

The second half was all about how they dealt with being in the real world - from the mother's depression and fears, to Jack missing things about Room (after all, it was all he ever knew). One of the most frustrating scenes in the book was when Jack went to the mall with his uncle, aunt, and cousin. It really put it into perspective what kinds of things Jack would just not understand, such as paying for things.

Even though I thought the middle of the book should have really been the end, it was kind of like finding out what happened AFTER. I can't count the number of times I've read a book and wished I could find out what happened. This was a fun treat to actually find out!

I give this book a 4/5.

Date Night!

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Monday night, DH and I had our first date night since Evan was born (over a year ago). We went to an annual dinner that DH's work hosts for a rather prestigious award in his general field of research.

It was not a typical date night, but it was wonderful none-the-less. One of the staff members at Evan's daycare volunteered to babysit him, so she took him directly home with her. It was strange having both of us at home and not having him at our feet, reaching up to be picked up or crawl-running around the house.

We got to the venue of the dinner, ran into some of DH's co-workers, and got a glass of wine. We ate hors d'oeuvres and chatted about our day and the people he knew there. We went into the beautifully decorated dining room and ate a four-course meal over a span of almost three hours.

The highlight of the evening was listening to Michael J. Fox speak about his childhood, his acting career, and his fight with Parkinson's. It was funny, touching and inspirational.

At about 9:30, we headed out and picked up Evan (who did really well and was sleeping like an angel). It was a great night, and we can't wait to do it again!

Discipline for a 1-Year-Old?

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Evan is doing things that we'd rather him not do, like pulling my hair, rocking the TV stand, and putting things down the heating vents, among others.

I know he's too young for time-outs (though we do put him in his playpen for a while if he's really getting into things) or any real sort of discipline, and that's not really what we want to do at this stage anyway. We'd rather be able to teach him that certain behaviors are unacceptable.

We do tell him "No, Evan" firmly, but he just looks at us, smiles, then goes back to doing what he was doing. Distraction tends to work most of the time, but sometimes we're not able to for some reason or another.

So, any other tips from the peanut gallery? Anything that really worked for you with kids of this age? Anything that really didn't?

13 Months

2011-11-19T13:46:00.003-05:00

Feel free to ignore these monthly posts - they're more for my record!

Evan is 1 year, 1 month old today! What has he been up too?

- At his last appointment (12.5 months), he was 21 lbs 9 oz (35th percentile - up 1o percentile points from last time), and 80.5 cm tall (92 percentile). Tall and lean still.

- He has six teeth now (four on top, two on the bottom)

- He's been down to one nap for about a month now.

- He goes to sleep for the night usually around 7:30pm and wakes up between 6-7am.

- He's completely off of formula. The transition to whole milk was very smooth. He's also down to 4 bottles a day, and we're working on transitioning to sippy cups (he takes water from a sippy cup).

- He is very good at cruising now (walking around furniture, etc.)

- He is starting to stand on his own. He'll pull himself up to standing on something, then slowly let go and stand there for a few seconds. He finds this very exciting (so do we though!).

- He LOVES to point at things.

- He's very into reading lately. He will bring us books and give them to us to read. His favorite right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. He will search through his pile of books for it and bring it over to us. If we don't start reading it, he gets very annoyed!

- He can definitely understand what we're saying to him and can follow directions. I can ask him to go get me something and bring it back, or to get me a different book to read, and he will.

- He sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating. It's so cute!

- He loves eating whole versions of food instead of cut up pieces. This is especially true for fruit like apples and pears. If we cut them up, he throws them on the ground.

- His favorite toys are the shape sorters, blocks, and Lego. Oh, and the cat beds :P

- He has formed a special bond with one of the ladies in his daycare room: she rushes to greet him in the mornings, and they call her his surrogate mom!

Rippers

2011-11-18T07:00:00.005-05:00

A couple days ago, a new local baseball team unveiled their name and logo:

Fig. 1: The London Rippers logo (London Community News).

That's right. They're called the London Rippers and the logo is a creepy looking guy in a top hat and black cloak. Their tag line? "Lurking in Labatt Park* this spring".

Now, that in general probably wouldn't garner much support. I mean, who gives props to a serial killer? But what has enraged the public even more is the timing: this month is Women Abuse Awareness and Prevention month in the province of Ontario, and there have been many highly publicized events for it in our city.

The Rippers organization is defending their choice, saying that "rip" is a common term used in baseball (as in hitting a baseball so hard to rip the cover off). They even have a video on their Facebook page, telling the story of Diamond Jack (the mascot):

"...Diamond Jack, a frustrated hockey player who found he could “rip” the cover off baseballs. Despite his talent, teams grew weary of the expense of replacing balls so Diamond Jack decided to form his own team in London, Ontario." (London Free Press).

It should be noted that, in the video, it tells of how Diamond Jack would sneak into the stadiums at night to practice his hitting (um, of baseballs), and ends with him promising to give opponents a "great scare" as he erupts in evil laughter (CBC).

Some supporters say the name is right in line with teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Nashville Predators. I don't know...are those on the same level?

In any case...if you saw JACK + TOP HAT + BLACK COAT + LONDON + RIPPER anywhere, what would that add up to in your mind?

What do you think? Is the name/logo/tag line offensive, or are people overreacting?

*The local baseball stadium

DH is a Unicorn

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Cloud, over at Wandering Scientist, wrote yesterday about how a woman can in fact be a feminist and be married with children. She writes about how she is married to a mythical creature, a unicorn (men who take on equal workloads at home), and goes on to list how her and her husband separate their home duties. I think it's a great post and, from the comments, there are a lot of good unicorns out there.

DH is a unicorn. Here's how our duties play out, in no particular order:

- We both work full-time. DH typically works 8:30-5pm, while I do 9-4:30pm. He makes more money. Again, like Cloud said, this really has no impact on how our household duties are split (especially since, in our case, we share our finances).

- I cook dinner 95% of the time. DH cleans the kitchen 95% of the time. I love cooking dinner so this works out for me. I probably come ahead in this deal because it's not like he loves cleaning.

- We are pretty even on the diaper changes and bottle feeding.

- DH does the vast majority of the yard work.

- Last year, DH did the vast majority of the snow removal, since someone had to stay inside the house with Evan. Not sure how this will play out this year, since the snow will have to be removed before we both leave for work in the morning, so Evan will still be in the house.

- I take care of all the bills and finances.

- I act as PR for our household. This includes calling people, extending and accepting invitations, sending out birthday and Christmas cards, making appointments, etc..

- DH drops Evan off at daycare, I pick him up.

- DH takes out the garbage (including putting it and the recycling out on the sidewalk each week for pick-up) and scoops the cat box.

- I put together the grocery list and plan our meals each week.

- I do the laundry.

- We have a cleaning service that comes every two weeks. This is an amazing way to buy some free time (another great post by Cloud) and we don't have to fight about who had to clean the toilets.

- We both do bath time with Evan.

- We both put Evan to bed at night (we both lie down with him in our bed until he falls asleep, then we move him to his crib). I actually really love this time, and I think DH does too.

- If Evan wakes up at night, we try to alternate who soothes him.

- If Evan is sick, he wants his Daddy, and DH is much better at dealing with vomit (I have a bit of a phobia about it). I generally administer the medicine (but DH has to "secure" Evan), and am on clean-up duty.

- If Evan needs to stay home from daycare, we try to split it as fairly as possible - sometimes we'll alternate days, other times one might take the morning shift while the other gets the afternoon. Thankfully, both our schedules are fairly flexible.

- I keep track of things we'd like to buy, DH keeps track of projects around the house.

That's all I can think of. I think we split things relatively equally, but it's not like we have a spread sheet that records who does what and when. We just fell into these roles and it's working for us at the moment.

I'll ask the same question as Cloud did at the end of her post: am I oppressed and just don't see it? Am I really married to a unicorn? What's it like in your house?

Ahh...

2011-11-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

...it's so nice to come home! I don't go away often these days, but when I do I miss home much more than I used too. I just love the happiness, comfort, and sheer peace I feel when I walk through that door.

When I got home on Saturday afternoon from the STAO conference, Evan was sitting on his big car. He saw me, got so excited he started bouncing up and down and giggling, and threw his arms into the air to reach up for me to pick him up. How could I not love coming home to that?

That night, we took Evan to his first ever Santa Claus parade (a bit early in the year, right? Apparently, they moved the date because people were complaining of the snow and cold in previous years. Um, yeah, that's what Christmas season is like in Canada!). He was enthralled with the floats, cars, and bands. He didn't really get what all the fuss was about when Santa passed by, but I'm guessing he'll figure it out next year.

It's good to be home.

Conferencing

2011-11-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

Today I head to my first conference since 1) becoming a mother, and 2) starting my new job. It's a conference for K-12 teachers, and we will be hosting an information booth about our education and outreach programs, as well as hosting a workshop about one of our activities.

I'm excited! I really enjoy interacting with teachers, especially the gung-ho ones who want to try new things in their classrooms (who this conference is designed for). I'm also excited to find out what other places are doing in terms of outreach and finding resources for our own activities.

In addition to the job-side excitement, there is also some on the personal side: tonight I will get a whole hotel room all to myself. I will have all evening, from about 5pm onward, to do whatever I please. I have brought knitting, my Kindle, and my swimsuit. There's no telling what tonight may hold (though I have a feeling there will be some serious vegging and/or sleeping).

Tomorrow and Friday night I will be sharing the room, but it's not like I have to worry about changing someone's diaper, giving them a bath without them crying, or trying to get them to sleep before 8pm. At least I hope not. It will be glorious.

Of course, I'll probably miss Evan and DH terribly by the second day, but I plan to squash those feelings as much as possible so I can enjoy my "me" time.

If you're going to be at the STAO conference, email me!

Apple Pie

2011-11-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what my blog title suggests, I have never baked an apple pie. Shocking, I know. I'm honestly not a huge fan. There are many other cakes, pies, and other deserts that I'd rather have.

However, one of my fall bucket list items was to bake my first ever apple pie, so that's what I did on Sunday afternoon. I used a recipe called Best Apple Pie Ever from the The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook, and it did not disappoint.

Fig. 1: Don't judge this apple pie by the way it looks...trust me, it was amazing.

I often find apple pie too sweet, so using Granny Smith apples kept that at bay. I'm very happy with the result, and might do it again sometime!

As for the rest of the bucket list, we've done the family portraits, had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner (which DH made this year), celebrated Evan's birthday with a cake and small party, dressed up Evan for Halloween and attended a local street party/parade, went to a pumpkin patch, have taken walks, and played in the leaves. I'm not sure if DH and I will be able to take a day or two off together, and I have not cast-on for a sweater for Evan.

How is your fall going?

December Scientiae - Call for Posts

2011-11-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Here we go - the last Scientiae of the year! This quarter's theme is:

The Ultimate Goal

Sometimes we lose track of why we got into science. But, at some point, I'm sure we all had grandiose dreams of all the things we were going to accomplish as scientists. Sure, those goals may have changed as we evolved from naive and idealistic undergraduate students to where we are now, but surely there's some big idea that's pushing us, even in the distant background.

So, what is your ultimate career goal? Do you want to win the Nobel Prize? Cure cancer? Build a better mouse trap? What is it that you want to be remembered for career-wise?

Feel free to submit variations on the theme or anything else you find appropriate. Please e-mail a permalink to your submission to scientiaecarnival [at] gmail [dt] com by 5pm Eastern Time on December 15th, so the carnival can be posted in time for the holidays!

Reverse Sexism

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

Is it sexist to have a women's only college or university?

Is there such a thing as reverse sexism?

Discuss.

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

On the weekend, we took Evan to a local Halloween street party and parade (our community is awesome, and often has street parties and such throughout the year). Even though the parade didn't start until 6:30pm (which is late when dinner is usually at 6pm and Evan goes to bed around 7pm), Evan did really well and seemed to enjoy it. He especially loves people watching, so put people in weird costumes and it's even better!

Fig.1: Evan in his tiger costume. Not really sure what to make of it yet.

Fig. 2: Slightly tired, waiting for the parade to start.

Fig. 3: Smiles finally!

Isaac's a Boob

2011-10-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

I got my cat, Isaac, when I moved to Winnipeg for my masters at the very end of 2002.

Fig. 1: Isaac.

We have been through a lot together: moving five times (once to another city), driving half-way across the country, two cats (a male cat, Claude, who died a few years ago, and now a female cat, Isabella), and of course the addition of a husband and baby. I love him. He's my cuddle buddy, and he still sleeps with me every night. I've often told DH that if I had to choose between him and Isaac, Isaac would win because we've been together longer (DH does not find this particularly funny, but I think I'm being cute).

But, recently I sometimes want to drop-kick the damn cat across the room.

He has this incredibly annoying habit of doing this howling/meowing thing just as Evan is nodding off for the night at about 7pm. Then, he does the same damn thing when DH and I go to bed a few hours later and are just starting to fall asleep.

I don't know why he does it, but I do know how to shut him up: I have to practically mail him a written invitation to get into bed with us. I can't just call him once. Nope. I have to call him 3-4 times before he comes upstairs. Then, once he's in the vicinity of our bedroom, I have to tap the bed. He'll come closer, but will sit beside the bed, waiting for me to make room beside me and tap the bed while saying "come on, Isaac". Finally, after this 5-minute dance, he'll come on to the bed and lie down.

Sometimes that's it for the night. Sometimes it's not --- he'll jump down five minutes later to go check something out and then the whole process starts again.

Isaac, I love you buddy, but SHUT THE HELL UP, ALREADY!

W(ish)W - Evan's Birthday

2011-10-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

Fig. 1: First thing on his birthday-day (he's much more awake than either I or DH).

Fig. 2: Opening presents!

Fig. 3: Birthday Jell-O (he had cake at daycare, so we didn't want him to have that twice in one day).

Fig. 4: Singing "Happy Birthday" to the little man at his second birthday celebration.

Fig. 5: Eating cake :)

Fig. 6: Actually kept the hat on long enough for me to get a cute-ish photo of him. Happy birthday, little man!

Space Exploration: Yay or Nay?

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, I did an outreach activity with a class of grade 5-8 gifted students. These events typically go like this: the first day the students learn about impact craters, how they are formed, etc.. They then learn about dependent/independent variables and are given a demonstration of a cratering experiment (dropping balls into a bin of flour). We tell them how they can design their own experiments (choosing to change one independent variable, keeping all others constant, they can measure a change in one dependent variable). The second day, they design and run their experiments. The final day, we come back to the classroom to find out what they did, what issues they had, etc., and then do a show-and-tell with impact rocks and meteorites.

This class, however, took things in a completely different direction. Apparently, during the second day, they began to talk about whether funding for space exploration should be continued. They got so wrapped up in this discussion that the teacher wanted them to act out a debate with us (the "experts") there to add information as necessary.

So, on the third day, we ran this debate. Each student decided how they felt about the subject and were congregated by groups around tables (yes to human and robotic space exploration, yes to only robotic missions, no to everything, and undecided). Each group then got about 5 minutes to talk amongst themselves to decide which points they wanted to present during the debate. Then, one person from each group got about 1-2 minutes to list their points. After each group went, the debate began!

It was really interesting hearing their opinions (and what those opinions were based on), and how passionate they were about them. We tried our best to stay out of it, but we did interject facts if someone was way off (for example, gas on Jupiter is NOT the same gas we put in our cars). Many people actually changed their minds, so changed tables during the process.

During the debate, we took notes, so at the end we addressed a few points that were brought up a lot. For example, many talked about the economics of spending so much money on space exploration, so we let them know that NASA gets less than 1% of the American budget (we tried not to imply whether that is too much or too little).

At the end, there were still two students decidedly in the "we should NOT explore space" category --- that is, until we brought up the fact that the iPod one of the girls was taking notes on wouldn't be here if it wasn't for missions to space. Same with GPS, satellite TV, and cell phones (here's an awesome site about spin-off technology). They moved over to another group pretty quick after that!

Even though the students need to work on their fact checking and debate skills, it was really rewarding to be a part of something like that. I feel good about the future of our world with these kids in it.

Categorize

2011-10-21T07:00:00.001-04:00

A post over at FeMOMhist got me thinking if my blog fits nicely into one category or the other. Or, even better, what kind of blog do my readers view it as?

So, here's a poll (if you answer other, please expand in the comments):

One Year

2011-10-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

One year ago today, our little man decided to surprise us and arrive five weeks early.

Fig. 1: Evan, about 2 hours old.

It sure has been quite the year - from the rough start at the NICU and another hospital stay a month later, to our first Christmas as a family, to DH going back to work and me figuring out how to be a stay-at-home mom, to finally welcoming in spring, enjoying summer with our little man, and finally to me going back to work and Evan starting daycare. It's definitely been a wild, and fast, ride!

I have loved seeing how Evan has developed into a little boy. He has changed from an orange-tinged sack of potatoes, to a little boy who loves to explore, laugh, and play. In between, he has gone through all sorts of stages - when all he would do was eat and sleep, to being a fairly difficult baby in his 2nd to 4th months, to becoming a generally happy kid.

Fig. 2: This smile is pretty much plastered on his face most of the time these days.

It's been amazing to watch him learn. It's crazy to think about all the things he can do now: rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, cruising, babbling, smiling, laughing, clapping, pointing, waving, playing, climbing, eating (oh, the eating!)...and a zillion other things.

I think watching him learn will continue to be my favorite thing of all. I am completely in awe how he can pick something up and figure it out. How he can learn so quickly, and how his sense of curiosity leads him to learn even more. One of my biggest wishes is that he never loses that curiosity.

So, my little man, my cute-apotamus, my E-dawg, my Evan...Happy 1st Birthday to you! I'm sure the next year will bring even more amazing things!

Book Review: House Rules

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

My 11th book of the year was House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I'm a fan of her books, and this one did not disappoint. It's about an 18 year-old boy (Jacob) with Asperger's Syndrome. He has a fascination with forensic science, and because of this he gets in the middle of a murder case and becomes the prime suspect.

I do not know a lot about Asperger's, but it seemed like Picoult portrayed it very well in this book. It was frustrating to read from the mother's (Emma) point of view, learning all she has to deal with and how she had to give up her whole life. But, you could also feel the love she has for her son, and how she wouldn't want him any other way. It was also interesting reading from Jacob's perspective, and I would be interested to know how accurate his portrayal is.

The plot was typical Picoult, with twists, gasp-able moments, and big court scenes. Typically good, I might add.

There were a couple things that did rub me the wrong way though:
1. The whole story wouldn't have ever developed if there was a bit of simple communication from another character - nicoleandmaggie wrote about this kind of thing just a few days ago.
2. The "connection" between vaccinations and autism was mentioned a few times, and that made my head hurt and skin crawl.

I'm giving this book a 4/5.

"Nice" Drivers

2011-10-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Drivers that stop following basic traffic rules just to be "nice" drive me up the frickin' wall.

This includes drivers who:
- "wave" you through a 4-way stop, even though it's clearly their turn
- stop in the middle of a busy 4-lane road to let a pedestrian cross the street, and it's not even a cross-walk (and the other lanes of traffic are still moving)
- similar to the previous, stop to let another driver go through an intersection, even though there are other lanes of traffic still moving, so the car being "let through" can't get through at all

I get people are just trying to be nice, but for the love of God, it just screws everyone up! Just follow the damn rules of the road and everything will flow much smoother.

Daycare Art

2011-10-12T07:00:00.003-04:00

One of the cutest things about daycare is the little art projects they do. Here are a few of our favorites so far:

Fig. 1: Marble art. They put a bunch of marbles in paint, and the kids pick them out and rub/roll/etc. them on the paper.

Fig. 2: A butterfly made from Evan's hand and foot prints.

Fig. 3: What Thanksgiving would be complete without a hand-turkey?

They also have little parties at the centre. In August, they had a Teddy Bear Picnic, where all the kids brought their favorite teddy bear to daycare. In the afternoon, they all went outside and had a picnic with their teddy bears. How cute is that?

Fig. 4: Evan's first certificate.

This month, they had a Thanksgiving dinner last Friday, and they'll be having a Halloween party on the 31st - I'm sure the photos from that day will be awesome.

Have I mentioned how much we love this daycare? It was really tough for the first week or so (on me), but we are so happy that we went this route. Evan absolutely adores it, and really likes the staff and the other kids. They do all sorts of fun things - art, parties, and the older kids go on field trips a couple times per month. Their menu is way better than anything I eat during the week (seriously - it's a bit sad). All the older kids apparently just love Evan - he gets kisses when he arrives in the morning, and they play with him during outdoor time. So sweet :)

Not As Planned

2011-10-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

Here is how this weekend was supposed to go: On Saturday, I had to organize two outreach events (one from 1-4pm, another from 5-9pm). DH was excited to have one-on-one time with Evan, and would come to both events so I could see them. Sunday we would make our turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, watch football (obviously kicking ass in our pool), and enjoy the day. Monday we would take a family outing to a local farm with apple picking, a pumpkin patch, and all things Fall.

Here is how it really went:

Saturday started out fine enough, with DH getting groceries and me spending time with Evan. About ten minutes before I had to leave for my first event, DH got very VERY ill. I had no idea what to do. I knew how awful it would be for him to have to look after Evan while sick, but I couldn't back out of the events. DH assured me they'd be fine, so off I went.

The first event at the Children's Museum went okay - not great, but about 50 people came by. I checked in with DH - he wondered if I could come home at some point, as he was not feeling any better. So, after setting up the second event, I came home to a very sick DH lying on the couch with a very upset Evan bawling his eyes out in DH's face. I scooped Evan up, cuddled, played, changed diaper, fed, and put to bed. DH and I decide to move the turkey dinner to Monday, since we weren't sure how he'd be feeling on Sunday.

I went back to the second event, which also wasn't super great -- again only about 50 people showed up. We all blamed the low turnouts on it being Thanksgiving weekend, and a gorgeous one weather-wise at that. I get home, and DH is feeling good enough to eat something. Hmm...12 hour bug of some sort?

Sunday morning I woke up at 6:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. Evan woke up at about 7am, so I fed him and played with him, letting DH sleep in and recover a bit from the day before. By about 9am I was exhausted, so DH took Evan for a long walk and I went back to bed for two hours. That afternoon, we just relaxed around the house, watching football (doing very shitty with our picks), and hanging out in the yard. By 8pm I started feeling nauseous, so went to bed.

That whole night I fluctuated between feeling nauseous and having a panic attack - heart racing, shortness of breath, etc. - about feeling nauseous (I practically have a phobia of vomiting). I "slept" for 12 hours, and felt awful when I finally got out of bed, and felt awful pretty much all day. DH was a trooper, taking care of Evan, and even cooking up the whole turkey dinner while both Evan and I were napping. By the time dinner was ready, I felt like I could kind of eat something, so we both had a bit of Thanksgiving dinner in front of the TV.

Plus, we only got 5 points --- 5!! out of 13!! --- in the football pool this week. We couldn't do worse than that if we tried!

Not exactly what you would call a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend - the last long weekend of the year.

InOMN

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Just a heads -up, in case you're interested, tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 8th) is International Observe the Moon Night!

This event was started by NASA and a few other partners three years ago (I believe), with just a few events. Last year, there were 502 events in 53 countries, and they're hoping for more this year!

Take a look at the website to see if there is an event in your area. Also, if you're an artistic type, they are having an art contest! There are 10 categories, from poetry to graphic novels, and everything in between. They will be taking entries until November 5th.

We will be hosting an event at the local observatory - should be a fun one (and it also means the end to a very long and busy week for myself, so YAY!).

Blargh.

2011-10-05T08:27:00.002-04:00

I'm sick. Again.

DH came down with a flu/cold over the weekend. I figured, since I have had it twice already this season, that maybe I've worked up an immunity.

Nope.

Yesterday, while doing an outreach event in the morning, I started to feel worse and worse. By the time we got back to the university, I felt like death. I went home, took my temperature (102.2F), and went to sleep. I slept until 6am, when E-dawg thought it was a good time to wake up.

Still feeling horrible, I had to call a teacher this morning to cancel an all-day outreach event. On top of being sick, I now feel guilty about making them come up with a lesson plan 20 minutes before classes start. At least we are able to reschedule.

WW Photo

Homemaking: A Lost Art?

2011-10-03T07:00:00.002-04:00

The other day, I was telling DH that I wish I had some of my mother's skills when it came to sewing, baking, getting stains out, and the like. For example, it kind of pains me that we have to take our pants to be hemmed, when I'm sure that's something I could easily do if I had a sewing machine and a quick lesson.

We talked about how our mothers would sew us clothes or Halloween costumes, or bake things for bake sales, or were able to get stains out of anything like magic (for what it's worth, I will note here that both our mothers worked out of the home). Our grandmothers were even more skillful in these areas. For some reason, though, these skills did not seem to be passed down to the our generation.

I know many people do some of these things as hobbies these days (sewing, baking, knitting, cooking, etc.), but is true homemaking, where most women have this skill-set, a lost art? And if so, then why?

DH and I came to three conclusions: 1) money, 2) time, and 3) availability. Our generation is willing to pay more for something if it will save us time, and often it is cheaper to buy something pre-made than to make something yourself. These things are also more readily available than in the past.

As an example, on the weekend I paid $20 for a Halloween costume for Evan. That expense is much less than buying a sewing machine and fabric, plus the time it would take to learn how to sew. Even if I did know how to sew and owned a sewing machine, I doubt I would be able to make such an adorable costume for a similar cost.

There are other things I do though: I cook dinner pretty much every night (and good dinners too, if I do say so myself), I bake (but only every so often), and I knit (definitely as a hobby though - something I do when we're watching TV or something).

What do you think? Are these kinds of skills getting lost? Why or why not? Which skills do you have already? Which do you which you had more of?

"Fun"draising

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Apparently, fundraising for school activities begins before your child is 1 these days. Yes, this week, we received a catelogue for Tupperware in order to sell to our family and friends.

Luckily, they have said (numerous times) that we are by no means obligated to do any fundraising, but it has still given us a glimpse into our future: where we will not only obligated, but required to fundraise, volunteer our time, or have to cut a cheque to cover the difference between some pre-defined minimum amount and what we actually can sell.

In elementary school, I remember being sent home with catelogues for various fundraising opportunities. There were book sales, Christmas decorations/wrapping paper, and bake sales. In high school, it got slightly more serious with Entertainment books (very large coupon books that were $40 each), and having to staff Bingo's.

My parents didn't buy into the idea where they had to hit up their family, friends, and co-workers to raise money for a program or school. They would typically buy a couple of items, and that was that (DH's family was the same). I sure the heck didn't have the personality to do it either. I didn't mind the Bingo model though, since we were merely working as staff for a service that was already being offered. We weren't putting people out by doing it. I think DH and I will have a similar mentality toward these types of things.

As for the Tupperware fundraiser: apparently the daycare only receives 10-40% of the sale, depending on the items. So, we're just going to make a straight-up donation. They get 100% of the cash and we don't have solicit our family and friends. I figure it's a win-win.

What kind of fundraising did you do in school? What did your parents do about it?

If you're a parent, how often does this happen, anyway? What do you do?

Downsized

2011-09-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

When I started my new job in June, our Centre was given an office that I would share with the other new staff member. Though it is an interior office, it is still rather nice. It's on an inside corner, so we have windows on two sides. It's rather large, and can easily fit our two desks and all the outreach supplies.

But, when we moved in, we were told it was only temporary - like most other space allocations at the university. Space is a premium around here. Especially good space.

So, last Friday afternoon we were told that we will be moving (okay, it was more like "get the hell out of that office ASAP!!") to a new office the following Monday. The office is about half the size of our previous office, and is in the basement. Not only are we being downsized, but we're being downgraded.

It kind of sucks, but that's the way it goes at our university (I assume this is a regular occurrence at most universities though). Plus, we're only allowed to stay in this office for six months. So, more than likely, we'll be moving again soon.

The Dean has promised to have a permanent space set up for us before that happens, so hopefully that's the case and we can finally get settled (and put our office number on our brochures, business cards, and website).

What are the issues with space at your place of work?

WW Photo

Style Update - Five Months Later

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

Back in April, I revamped my professional style with the help of a wardrobe consultant, Sue. So, how are things going?

I love most of the clothes I bought (there were two pieces that I was having issues with, but I'm slowly incorporating them more often), and feel good every morning when I get dressed for work. The outfits we came up with in the initial wardrobing session took me easily through the summer months. I added a couple pieces (such as those awesome shoes I was drooling over in my shoe post), but generally kept to the outfits we came up with.

Fig. 1: Shoes I was drooling over are now mine! All mine!!

Sue and I met again recently, and "shopped my closet" to come up with a few ready-for-fall looks without having to buy anything new. It's amazing how adding a cardigan or a scarf can change the look and feel of an outfit.

Of course, now that fall is here and...ugh, I hate to say it...winter is on its way, I'm working on buying a few pieces to flush out my wardrobe for the colder months. I bought a gorgeous pair of black riding boots, three new scarves (I love scarves - I have 11 of them now), a black long-sleeve t-shirt for layering, opaque tights (black and brown), a purple cascading cardigan, a purple and black dress, and some new gold jewelery. There are a few more things I need, and Sue and I will be shopping for them in October.

Fig. 2: Black riding boots from Town Shoes.

At work, I have had mostly positive comments about the way I look. I often get compliments on my jewelry and my snakeskin pumps. I have had a couple people say things like "why are you so dressed up?" or "Ugh, I can't stand to wear dressy clothes", but those type of comments actually make me feel like I'm dressing right (for me), if that makes sense (because so many people dress so far down). I also notice people who dress well and make mental notes of pieces that catch my eye.

I am still so thrilled I started this whole process! I'm feeling more confident in coming up with my own outfits and being able to pick pieces out that will work with my wardrobe and convey what I want them to, but it's so nice having Sue to bounce ideas off of or just get some guidance with choices or help finding things (like black pants - why is it so hard??).

Daycare Policy

2011-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

Note: This posts contains talk of baby bodily functions. Proceed with caution.

Evan has been cycling through having a cold and having a stomach bug for the past three weeks. With the stomach bug comes vomiting (V) and diarrhea (Big D). I kind of have a phobia when it comes to V in that I refuse to do it at all costs, and I freak out a bit when I see/hear someone doing it. So, dealing with that has not been fun...but I'm actually getting used to it already. The Big D is not as bad to deal with, unless it's of the explosive variety and we have to change his clothes (or clean the carpet :P).

When Evan has the stomach bug, even though he's having the rare V and some Big D, he's generally fine otherwise. He plays, crawls around, talks, and is his usual happy self. Apparently, though, this does not matter when it comes to daycare.

You see, Evan's daycare has a policy of 2x V or Big D in a day and you have to go home. I find this a bit ridiculous, especially for 2x Big D. I could see sending him home if he has V, Big D, and a fever, and just all-round sick. But, to have to go home because of two bouts of only Big D (which has happened at least twice in the past two weeks)? On top of that, he's not allowed to go back to daycare until 24 hours after his last bout of Big D. I've read that it could take weeks for a baby to get over a stomach bug, and will have Big D throughout this time. WEEKS.

It's a bit frustrating to have to stay home because he has a couple bouts of Big D in one day and is otherwise totally fine, especially when I'm sure there will be a lot of other times he will be truly sick and need to be home.

Is this kind of policy normal? Any tips on how to...ummm...."bind" Evan up (he refuses Pedialyte)?

Not There Anymore

2011-09-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

So, apparently I'm not 22 anymore. I'm not sure when this happened but, according to the calendar, it was about 10 years ago.

Last week, I had a photo taken for a staff/faculty event that is being held today. They put up photos of all the new people, as a way to introduce them. The photographer sent me the photo and, although it's nice, I couldn't help thinking that I looked old. Or at least older than I feel.

It's funny, I still feel like I look the same as I did 10 years ago. But, comparing this new photo to others over the years, there is definitely a difference. I have wrinkles around my eyes and mouth, and my skin is not nearly as "glowing" as it used to be.

You hear about this aging thing, but you just assume it won't happen to you.

Submitted to the 3rd quarter Scientiae, hosted by Patchi at My Middle Years.

11 Months

2011-09-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Only one more month until Evan is a year? NUTS!

- He now always crawls on his hands and knees and is super fast.

- He loves climbing the stairs. One day, without ever climbing a single stair before, he went almost all the way up the staircase.

- Currently, he has three teeth coming in: the two top front teeth, and a lower front one. They're all through the gums now, which I assume is the most painful part. I'm guessing he'll find eating a lot easier now!

- This has been a bad month for him being sick. First, he had a cold, which turned into croup. Then he had a stomach bug. Now he has a runny nose and cough again. I haven't fared much better, catching the cold, getting a brutal soar throat, and getting a double ear infection.

- All of the babies he was with at daycare during the summer moved up to the next room. We were wondering if it would bother him, but apparently not. It's nice that he's with other babies of the same mobility ability (crawling, not walking), and it sounds like he has a new girlfriend already!

- He is such a quiet observer when we're out and about or with people he's not familiar with. Only when he's comfortable with someone, his true personality comes out: He can be such a ham, giving smiles, talking, and flirting.

- He had his first haircut!

- He got to meet his cousin and aunt this month! It was so cute watching the two babies together.

Happy 11 months, little man!

Open Letter

2011-09-16T07:49:00.003-04:00

Dear "VIPs",

Using condescending language toward staff, or out-right ignoring them will not gain you respect or friends that could be useful down the road.

That is all.

Sincerely,
Lowly Staff Member

Sick...again

2011-09-14T07:00:00.002-04:00

Please tell me that this won't last forever. Every time Evan gets sick, I do too. So, I end up missing work or working from home when he's sick and then again when I'm sick three days later.

Evan isn't sick right now*, but he is not feeling well due to at least three teeth coming in. He has, shall we say, loose stools. If he has two in one day at daycare, we have to pick him up. He can't go back until he's had a normal movement (I'm trying my best not to use gross words!).

It's kind of frustrating and there's a part of me that resents having to put my life on hold to have to be at home. There's a part of me that feels guilty for feeling that way, and another part that feels guilty for having to stay home YET AGAIN.

Parents: how did you deal with these feelings of resentment/guilt (if you had/have them)?

WW Photo

Fig. 1: Evan gets his first haircut!

*Scratch that - it seems he has a stomach bug. Fun.

News Flash: Catholics Learn Science!

2011-09-12T07:00:00.001-04:00

Today I have a meeting with a few teachers from the local Catholic school board to chat about doing some workshops with their students on impact cratering. In the past two weeks, when I've told people about this meeting, I've been surprised by some of the responses:

"That should be interesting" with a bit of a scoff.

"What are you even going to teach them?"

"How is that going to work?"

"Oh, good luck with that."

Each time I heard a comment like this, I was taken aback. Really? Is it that weird to think that science is being taught in our Catholic schools? Do people really have such an issue with religion and science being taught in the same building, that someone who believes in one can't learn about the other?

It boggles my mind that many people cannot fathom believing in both religion and science. I, myself, am not particularly religious (though I do believe there is some sort of higher being out there); however, I know many scientists that are very religious. In fact, a good friend of mine (who is Mormon) said she loves to study astronomy because she feels that's where science and religion intersect. I also know many people who attended Catholic school and/or teach in a Catholic school. And guess what? They also - gasp! - learn and teach science.

There is always a lot of complaining in the science world about religious "fanatics" having little to no understanding of the creation and evolution of our universe, or of evolution, or climate change, but the intolerance is a two-way street: The number of times I've heard someone assume that someone who is religious could not be a scientist is too many to count. These belief systems are not mutually exclusive, and there are many people who have the ability to meld the two.

I'm very excited to work with the Catholic school board, and I know they're excited about our programs. If we can help break this stereotype along the way, it's another bonus of the work I get to do.

Fall Bucket List

2011-09-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of the summer, I wrote down a bucket list of things I wanted us to do. How did we do?

- ~~Go to a London Major's game as a family~~
- Go to Storybook Gardens
- ~~Go to Pioneer Village~~
- Visit the community pool at least a couple of times
- ~~Head to the beach in Port Stanley at least once~~
- ~~Go to the Toronto Zoo~~
- Go strawberry picking
- Take in a Bluejays game
- ~~Go to the Fanshawe Lake Conservation Area~~
- Visit Sarnia for lunch
- ~~Celebrate Canada Day in Toronto~~
- Go hiking
- ~~Go to the summer festivals~~
- See a London FC game
- ~~Have the ILs visit~~
- Fly kites
- ~~Picnics in the park~~
- set up the kiddie pool in the backyard
- ~~Have lots of BBQs~~

Hmmm...we didn't do as well as I had hoped. Some of the things we realized just weren't suitable for Evan (Jay's game would have been way too much, he's not old enough for Storybook Gardens). Some things I'm not particularly sad about (strawberry picking, hiking). Somethings were totally doable, and I wish we had done them (fly kites, go to the community pool -- I'm really bummed about not doing that one).

Of course, we ended up doing lots of other stuff that wasn't on this list. So, overall, I think we had a good summer and enjoyed ourselves.

Now that Fall is upon us, how about a new bucket list?

- Get family photos taken
- Cook an awesome Thanksgiving dinner
- Celebrate Evan's first birthday (with at least a cake!)
- Dress up Evan for Halloween and go to some sort of an event
- Go to a pumpkin patch
- Go to parks/playgrounds
- Play in the leaves
- Take numerous walks in our lovely neighborhood
- Bake an apple pie
- Take a day or two off with DH
- Knit a sweater for Evan

Any must-dos for your Fall?

Things Change Quickly

2011-09-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Evan had croup last week. It was pretty rough for him, and he was pretty lethargic and downright pathetic at some points. But, he rallied back and was in tip-top shape to meet his Aunt and cousin on the weekend.

We all had a good visit (despite my being brutally sick, and DH starting to come down with it too). During the weekend, though, I noticed something in Evan had changed. He had always had a lot of energy, but it seemed like he was making up for lost time when he was sick. He was all over the place, constantly getting into everything. We have about 100 photos, and he's on the move in all of them.

Not only that, but he's playing different too - there's a lot more banging, throwing, and crashing things. It was like that before, but not like this.

Then, this evening, I hear DH say "Oh my God - have you seen where he is?". I thought he was just playing in the front entrance area. Nope. He had climbed half way up the stairs. He hasn't ever climbed a single stair before today. Now he's climbed several. In a row. In a very short period of time.

Definitely time to get another baby gate (right now, we only have one for the top of the stairs to the basement) - the last thing I need is him climbing up and then tumbling all the way back down!

I'm starting to come to another conclusion: Evan is definitely moving toward little boy-dom!

Bullets

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

- Evan had/has croup, and has been pretty miserable all week. It's been tough for him to sleep because he gets all congested when he lies down, and the hacking cough keeps him up as well. Needless to say, Mom and Dad haven't been sleeping well either.

- Yesterday, I started feeling really sick too. Now I have a brutally sore throat. Can adults get croup? Or is it just a bad cough/sore throat for us?

- Evan is FINALLY crawling on his hands and knees consistently. I guess he's figured out that it's more efficient than the army/spiderman crawl.

- My job is FINALLY official!! I had been working as a post-doc since June, waiting for HR to post the job, go through the interview process, and get an offer. The contract was signed yesterday, so HORRAY!

- DH's sister and her daughter (who is 1.5 months younger than Evan) are coming to visit for the weekend! We are very excited to meet our little niece, and I'm sure we'll be taking 100s of photos of the babies together.

Happy long weekend, everyone!

Wednesday With Words

2011-08-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

I've decided that I'm going to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. Because of this, I want to make the most of my posts, so more often than not, I will now have a Wednesday post with words. Those of you who like my Wordless Wednesday posts, have no fear, I will still post a WW picture. There just might be some words that may or may not be related!

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: A Book Review

This is the second of two books chosen for our book club's summer reading. And, no offense to the lovely lady that picked it, but it sucked (I'm not that sorry, since I have a feeling she feels the same way).

I cannot believe this book won the Pulitzer frickin' Prize. Seriously?

Not only was it an incredibly boring story, but the writing was annoying in that I had no idea who was telling the story at any given time. The worst part, though, was the 5-10 Spanish phrases that were in the text on each page.

Now, before you start telling me that it's part of the culture of the book, and I should broaden my horizons, blah, blah, blah - I don't care that there was Spanish in the book. What I do care about is a) I felt like I missed the punch line to pretty much everything in the book, and b) it was really distracting and took away from the story (which sucked anyway). Yes, I suppose I could have had a translator open while I read the book, but having to do that 5-10 times per page would have been just a tiny bit tedious. Why couldn't Junot Diaz put the English phrase in brackets or as a footnote? I mean, shit, he LOVES footnotes.

I HATED the footnotes. The longest footnotes in history, I dare say. I stopped reading them after the first chapter, because I just didn't give a shit.

It sucked. Period. I give it a 0.5/5, because I'm sure there was some sort of redeeming moment in it. Somewhere. I don't remember, but I have to believe it.

(And yes, this book was the reason for my last post).

WW Photo

Crappy Books

2011-08-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

I generally try to stick to a rule of finishing a book once I have started it. There have only been a couple books that I just could not force myself to continue (Little Women - I know, it's "the best book ever", so shoot me - and Alias Grace). If I find a book boring or tedious, I'll usually plod through it, hoping it will get better or that my next pick will make up for it.

I'm starting to question this rule.

The older I get, the more I understand the importance of doing things you love to do, but not forcing yourself to continue with things that become annoying, frustrating, or just plain boring. Life is too short, and, like most people, I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands these days.

Reading is supposed to be enjoyable. So, why should I force myself to finish a book I am not enjoying? The problem is we were all taught to "finish what you started". What total BS that is, am I right?

So, I'm thinking of instilling a new rule. Maybe something like, if I'm not into a book within 100 pages, I'll stop.

What do you do when you find yourself reading a crappy book?

What I Hate About Word

2011-08-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

I've started using Microsoft Word a lot more since starting my new position. This is mostly because a) all the templates for reports, letterhead, etc. were all made in Word, and b) I haven't found a good LaTeX processor for Mac or another good alternative.

The past week has been particularly bad for Word annoyances. Here are just a few of my all-time cringe-worthy things about it (if anyone knows easy fixes, let me know):

1. Sometimes, when using the "justify" option for paragraph alignment, it will spread out the last few words to use the entire line so there are enormous spaces between each letter.

2. Bullet lists are never, ever, automatically done the same way. It takes forever to override the automatic(ally wrong) formatting; however, turning the auto-formatting off makes it a pain in the ass too.

3. Inserting figures and tables in a specific spot is pretty much impossible. This is made 1000x worse if two figures or tables need to be remotely near each other.

4. Figure and table caption numbers are never correct. Ever.

5. It will auto-correct some words, but not others.

6. Most recently, when I ctrl+z to undo something, it automatically goes to the first page of the document (WTF?).

If you use Word, what things annoy you the most?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

First Birthdays

2011-08-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

Evan's first birthday is coming up and I'm not sure what to do for it.

It would be cute to have a little party for him. The problem is, we have absolutely no family in the area, which would be ideal for a first birthday. So, if we want to go this route, we would invite a few friends over (some who also have kids), have cake, etc. But, I don't want people thinking we're inviting them just trying to get presents out of them or something. And, really, how interesting is a 1st birthday for anyone but the parents?

I'm also thinking we could just do something as a family. I could make him a small cake, take some photos, maybe go somewhere he's never been before. I mean, it's not like he'll remember it, so doing something small would be fine.

Another option is, since his birthday is close to Halloween, to throw a little Halloween party. But, then I think his birthday should be, you know, about him.

If you have kids, what did you do for a first birthday? If you've been to a first birthday party, what have you seen that you liked or didn't like?

10 Months

2011-08-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

Holy crap - 10 months already, eh? I totally agree with the Yarn Harlot, who recently wrote about the time-warp that is parenting (some days crawl, but the years zip by).

- Evan has learned how to crawl on his hands and knees, but for now still prefers the army/Spiderman method. He has gotten pretty fast!

- He is pulling himself up to standing more frequently these days. He has figured out how to transition from standing to sitting too.

- He can finally transition easily from lying down to sitting up. This was harder for him than pulling himself up for some reason!

- He often gets into the downward dog yoga pose - we think this is him trying to learn how to stand up on his own after seeing multiple kids at daycare use the same method.

- He's starting to use really cute intonation when he "talks" - he can definitely portray things like disappointment, confusion, excitement, among normal baby things (sadness, anger, etc.).

- We just love watching him play. We wonder what's going on in his mind when he does things like this:

- My favorite thing for this month: Evan has a girlfriend at daycare! They are the two youngest babies, and apparently they play together quite a bit. She comes to the door to greet him in the morning, and blows him kisses at the end of the day when I pick him up. Way too cute for words.

Happy 10 months, my cute-opotamus!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

10,000 Ways

2011-08-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

I can think of 10,000 ways I'd rather spend 10K.

We have to replace our roof within the next year. We knew this when we bought the house, but a) we thought it would be less expensive than that, and b) it was something that future Alyssa and DH would deal with. Now, unfortunately, it is upon us.

This is one thing that sucks about adulthood and home ownership: having to make mature, responsible decisions when you don't really want too.

When we renovated our kitchen, it was also a good chunk of change. But, we were totally okay with it because it was something we were going to use all the time. I absolutely love our kitchen and don't regret a single cent we paid for it (in fact, I wish we splurged a little more and went for a more exciting back-splash). It makes me smile because the design is just totally us.

I know that, in reality, the roof gets used even more than our kitchen. I mean, it protects the rest of the house 24 hours a day. If we don't replace it, we could be in for a world of hurt and much greater expense down the road. Still, it's annoying to pay so much for something you can barely see (our house is really tall). And, it's not like the powder room where we could do some of the work ourselves to save some cash.

Imagine what else we could do with that money: landscape the backyard, put in a gas fireplace, redo the upstairs bathroom, go on an amazing vacation, buy a boat...the possibilities are endless. But, it's something we have to do.

Sometimes I curse being a mature, responsible adult.

Knocking Wood

2011-08-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had a time in your life where everything is going so well that you wonder how long it's going to last?

After years of hating what I was doing during my PhD and subsequent post-docs and, at the same time, DH and I feeling like we were in constant limbo while we waited to see where we'd end up, and then suffering a miscarriage and wondering if we would be able to have a child...I feel like all the pieces have finally fallen into place.

DH found a permanent position here, and we bought a house. Shortly after that, I got pregnant again and we had Evan a few months later. During that time, I received a job offer, and now I'm doing what I really want to do --- and actually having a career, not just a job. I feel grounded. I feel happy. I feel incredibly lucky and blessed.

I know this won't last forever. I know one or both of us will want to (or have to) find a different job. I know, living with a 9.5 month old, things are always changing and I could be ripping my hair out next week. I know our roof could collapse, or someone could get sick, or we could get infested by ants at anytime.

But, as someone who has been living a rather nomadic life since moving out in 2002, I am really appreciating the concreteness of our life right now. I love that I pick up Evan on my way home from work, and we come home to our wonderful house. I love cooking dinner in our awesome kitchen, and then putting Evan to bed by reading him the same three stories every night. I love that we go grocery shopping and do laundry on the weekends. I love that DH and I get excited about going to bed before 10pm.

My 21-year-old-self would be wanting to slap me, I'm sure. But, life changes. Priorities change. Values change. Hobbies change. Even though I might bitch about things once in a while, I'm incredibly happy with life right now, and I haven't been able to say that for years.

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

2011-08-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Fig. 1: Evan in the cockpit (from our trip in May).

I Did It!

2011-08-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

I went for a bike ride on Saturday morning, and it was wonderful!

It took a little convincing to get the universe to let me go though. I got on my bike and noticed the tires were flat, so we had to pump them up (we, because I couldn't figure out how to use our pump properly :P).

After that, I jumped on the bike and no less than 2 minutes into my ride, the chain fell off. It got stuck so badly that I had to walk it home and get DH to yank it out with pliers.

Third time was a charm though, and I went for a 45 minute ride. I chose to ride along the paths mostly, as drivers in this city are awful to say the least. The path system here is apparently quite extensive, and it really is beautiful. It was like being in a whole different city!

This is something I think I will enjoy doing at least twice a week. If I do keep it up, though, I will need to invest in a new bike. This one is very cheap (yes, inexpensive, but also cheap, in a piece-of-crap kind of way), and I could feel every bump. My butt was incredibly sore in the end (Ha). The gear shifting system also sucks (gears changed randomly, other times they wouldn't change properly). Any bike suggestions (not ubber expensive though - under $500 for sure)?

DH and I might also try to get out together, but have him on roller blades pushing Evan in his stroller. That way, we can all get exercise together! We will probably do a short test drive to see how Evan likes going faster in his stroller before we do a longer trip.

I've also been doing well with some of my other plans I mentioned last time, and I'm starting to feel better about life in general. Hopefully that will be enough motivation to keep it up.

Lowest Energy State

2011-08-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

I seem to fall into these ruts where I live my life in the lowest energy state. On weekdays, I go to work, I come home and force myself to make an uninspired dinner, we put Evan to bed, I watch TV and surf around on the internet, and then I go to bed. Honestly, weekends aren't that much better unless, though we do make more of an effort for Evan's sake.

There are lots of other things I'd like to be doing - knitting, reading, biking, swimming, hiking, baking, trying new recipes, etc. - but because these take a bit more energy, I tend to put them off because I "need to relax" or "I'm too tired". So I watch TV or spend time online. But then I find myself wishing I had spent my time more wisely, then I tend to fall into a slightly depressive state, causing me to want to do even less, and around it goes.

In the comments of my last post, Cloud noted that "...your online time is only a problem if it is getting in the way of something you'd rather be doing, or impacting your productivity at work." My productivity at work has not been impacted, but I definitely feel like my online time (and being in the lowest energy state in general) has been getting in the way of things I'd much rather be doing.

So, to combat this, I have come up with some ideas on how to get out of these types of ruts:

1. Reduce the number of blogs I follow. This makes me feel a bit sick thinking about it, because all the blogs I follow are written by good, nice people. It's not like they're writing about stuff that makes me angry or upset. But, following 60+ blogs is hard work and something has to give! Any tips?

2. Knit if I'm watching TV. I figure I'm going to watch TV in the evenings, given SYTYCD and Master Chef are on 3-4 nights out of the week. It's not like I'm going to give that up (let's not get crazy here). So, to make that time somewhat productive, I'm going to knit while I watch.

3. Sign up for a class/sport. I need something to get me out of the house and doing something on my own, if only for an hour a week. I'm thinking something like tennis or cooking lessons (I had signed up for kayaking lessons, but it got canceled).

4. Bike rides. I'm going to start riding my bike, beginning with just one day a week. Saturday mornings will be perfect because DH can stay home and take care of Evan (and he has soccer on Sunday mornings, so it's kind of fair).

5. Limit computer use. I'm not going to use my computer from when I get home until after Evan is asleep. Then, I will give myself time to catch up on blogs, write posts for my blog, and check specific sites. After I'm done, I will turn my computer off, and not just putter around.

I think that's a good start. Hopefully they will help!

Trimming the Fat

2011-08-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

I spend way too much time on the internet.

I check Facebook numerous times per day.

I am a member of two online message boards (one with 3 close friends, and another larger group).

I follow 60 blogs (and read them all, and comment on a good portion).

I write about 3 posts a week for my blog.

I have a few news sites I check daily.

I now have a Google+ account (luckily I'm only following about 20 people, so I only check it once a day).

I do internet searches for work and personal purposes often.

I'm practically attached at the hip to my multiple emails.

I have to update a portion of a website for work.

It's getting to the point where I'm doing all this stuff more out of obligation than enjoyment. I get overwhelmed when I don't check FB or my Google Reader a few times a day, because otherwise it's hard to keep up with. Of course, now that I'm working, it's tough to do it during the day so everything piles up. This is also the reason why I don't want to branch out into new things, like Twitter or podcasts, because I feel like I already spend so much time on the internet that I don't want to add to it.

One of my 2011 resolutions was to cut back on my internet use, but obviously I haven't done a great job of it. How do you keep your internet use in check? Any tips on how to trim back without feeling like I'm missing something?

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Fig. 1: From a trip to Europe in 2004.

The Beach

2011-08-02T08:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend, we took Evan to the beach in Port Stanley for the first time (one of our summer bucket list items).

Fig.1: Hanging out on the beach.

He wasn't sure about the sand at first, but got into it after seeing mommy playing with it.

The lake was another story. He did not appreciate us putting his feet in the cold water, and he didn't seem to fond of the waves either. We should have known he wouldn't like it, considering it took him 8 months to finally enjoy bath time!

Fig. 2: Perhaps it was mommy's pasty legs that were scaring him, as he was okay when being held.

Oh well - we still had a great time!

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass: A Book Review

2011-08-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

At our last meeting, our book club decided to go nuts and chose, not one, but two books. Motorcycles & Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor was the first one I decided to tackle.

This story takes place on a Native Reserve in - from what I can gather from the story - somewhere in Northern Ontario. As the matriarch of a family is on her death bed, a stranger shows up and changes everything.

It was an easy, quick, and fun read. The story was fast-paced to keep my attention, but was simple enough to be able to follow without needing to make notes or go back. Although the story itself was uncomplicated, there were a few serious issues intertwined, such as residential schools, alcoholism, politics, single parenthood, and more. This book gives a bit of insight into what life is like for adults and children living on a Native Reserve in Canada - a perspective not often read/talked about.

This was a great book; well-deserving of being a 2010 Governor General's finalist. I give this book a 4/5.

Earth's Trojan

2011-07-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

My PhD supervisor was involved in the discovery of the first Trojan asteroid of Earth. It made the cover of Nature and everything! It's all over the space news websites, as well as in pretty much every Canadian paper. The best resource for information seems to be the university webpage, which has links to animations, interviews, and the Nature paper itself.

Cool stuff! Happy long weekend, everyone!

500

2011-07-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Believe it or not, this the 500th post I've written on this blog since I started it on Sept. 27th, 2008.

A lot of things have happened since starting this blog almost three years ago. I went from an almost-quitting, depressed PhD student, to a bored post-doc and disgruntled volunteer committee head, to finding a full-time job doing what I truly love to do.

DH and I went from apartment living, where-are-we-going-from-here newlyweds, to finding real jobs, buying a house, dealing with contractors, having a baby, and now being two full-time working parents of a nine-month old boy.

In that time, my blog has evolved too. I started blogging under Mrs. Comet Hunter, and wrote (ranted?) mostly about my grad school experience. After defending my PhD I decided to come out and blog under my real name. A few months later, I suffered a miscarriage, and the variety of topics I wrote about expanded. Now I write about anything from my job, to book reviews, to parenthood, to knitting, and of course the occasional rant.

What I've valued the most over the past 500 posts are the comments I receive from my readers. Because, what's a blog without readers and commenters really? Even though I tend to straddle the science and motherhood blogging communities, I have felt welcomed by both.

I don't know where this blog will be in another 500 posts, but I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. Thanks for reading!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

The Memory Keeper's Daughter: A Book Review

2011-07-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

My ninth book of the year was The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. The story begins with a mother giving birth to twins, one of which had Downs Syndrome. The father decides to give the baby away, and the rest of the story is about how that secret influences many lives.

This was a beautifully written book. The narratives transport you to another place, and I was captivated many times by the use of her words.

But, honestly, the book just did not hold my attention. Evidence: it took me almost two months to read it. I felt the story basically went nowhere, and was incredibly predictable. Being a mother, I usually feel strong emotions when I read books about children and parenthood, but I did not connect with the characters at all. I don't know what it was - perhaps Edwards was so focused on the narrative that the characters were lost.

I give this book a 2.5/5, because it was beautifully written, but the character development and storyline severely lacked.

Grandma M

2011-07-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

My paternal grandmother passed away earlier this week. She was a month away from being 95, and had been in a home for a while, so it wasn't unexpected; however, it's sad nonetheless.

I haven't seen much of her in my adult years, but I have lots of fond memories of her from my childhood. My parents would send my brother and I to visit her for a week or two during the summer. She always had wonderful goodies in the fridge and freezer, gorgeous flowers growing outside that she let me pick, and a giant yard where we would play endlessly. She was so caring and loving, especially when I was home sick. She was constantly smiling and laughing.

For some reason, one of my clearest memories of her was during a drive between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Every time we passed horses, she would say "Look! Cows!!" and I would giggle and say "No, Grandma! Those are horses!!". I don't know why that stuck with me, but it always makes me smile.

Back in May, Evan and I made a visit to Saskatchewan, seeing both my grandmothers. I am so glad he was able to meet her before she passed, and it was wonderful the way he made her smile.

Grandma, I hope you know you are deeply loved and that you're now with all your family and friends who passed before you. See you on the other side.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

9 Months

2011-07-19T07:00:00.003-04:00

9 months --- Evan has lived longer in the real world now than in my belly (I guess this was true last month too, but whatever).

- He is still sleeping right through the night, usually from about 8pm until 6:30-7am. We won the sleeping-baby lottery, because he's been doing this since about three months.

- He LOVES bath time now! It completely changed overnight. One day, we stood him in the water for a few minutes and then were able to sit him down (before he would be as stiff as a board and we couldn't get him to sit), and ever since then he just adores bath time. Even though it takes way longer now, since we let him play and splash around, it's so much nicer.

- He can army crawl like a champ. He can get on to his hands and knees from a sitting position, but for some reason prefers the army crawl. The cats are not happy now that he's mobile, though he's still slow enough that they can escape his reach easily.

- He can pull himself up on to his knees and on to his feet from certain positions.

- He started daycare and absolutely adores it. This makes Mommy and Daddy very happy.

- He's so amazing when we take him out. He loves people watching, and he loves trying all sorts of different foods when we go out to eat. So much easier than when he was a fussy-pants in his earlier months!

- We're dealing with his first-ever fever at the moment. I guess we are lucky that he hasn't been sick for this long, but it still sucks! Poor little guy.

Powder Room

2011-07-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

One thing that was lacking when we moved into our house was a second bathroom. However, we knew there was a spot we could put one:

Fig. 1: Closet off the stairs. That is not our stuff.

A few months ago, DH started on the project. It was a bit slow-going because he also takes care of Evan in the evenings, but he stripped the wallpaper off, put in a new light/fan (including a light switch), installed a GFI outlet, and added duct work to heat the room.

Fig. 2: In the early stages.

We decided to hire a contractor to install the plumbing (since it was a complete installation, not renovation), switch the swing of the door, and lay the tile. We also ordered a custom stained-glass window.

Fig. 3: Tile down, and sink & toilet in.

Four-and-a-half months later, we finally have a wonderful new powder room! We were a bit concerned about it being too small, but the corner sink and toilet really save space and it's actually quite roomy (for a powder room).

Fig. 4: The final product!

Now we need to decide what's next on our renovation list. Gas fireplace? Landscaping the backyard? Finishing the attic? Hmmm...

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

2011-07-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

So, what do you think?

WCSE

2011-07-12T07:00:00.001-04:00

Last week, the first ever Western Conference on Science Education was held here at the university. I was on the organizing committee from the very early stages, so it was amazing to see our ideas and hopes finally come to life.

This was the first conference of its kind in Canada - we brought together staff, faculty, graduate students, librarians, and others from across all science disciplines who do research on science education at the post-secondary level. The initial goals of the conference were to just get all these people together in one room, to learn what everyone else is doing, and to figure out if we can (should) work together to create a cohesive group.

The answer to the last part is an overwhelming "yes".

As we heard from many speakers, including Adam Bly (the founder of Seed Media Group), the science world, and the world in general, is moving from departmentalized issues to complex issues. For example, climate change is not just an atmospheric or meteorological problem, but traverses many disciplines from biology and chemistry to urban planning and sociology. We live in a time where there is such an immense amount of data that scientists need the help of designers and architects to visualize it in new and innovative ways in order to understand it. Everything is moving toward a more collaborative environment, and science (and science education) is no exception.

The major problem facing science education research at the post-secondary level in Canada is that we are miles behind that of the United States, Europe, and Asia. Why? Well, as with most things, it all comes down to money.

Representatives from both NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) and SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) spoke at the conference, but neither gave answers we were looking for. NSERC kept re-iterating their mandate is to fund research, but NOT education research, as education is under provincial jurisdiction. SSHRC does fund education research, but mostly for primary and secondary school. They also have a much smaller pot of money, but a much larger pool of applicants. Science education research at the post-secondary level falls through the cracks.

Many suggestions floated around on how NSERC could change their mandate, or even just their interpretation of their mandate. After all, education research IS research, so it really shouldn't be that difficult. But, as with many government institutions, they have to stick by their guns and dig in their heels to change.

So, what can we do? Well, we can try to conform to the rules of NSERC and/or SSHRC but try to bend the rules within their boundaries. Maybe we can find collaborators in the United States and other areas and tap into their funding resources. Or, maybe we could just say "screw the government" and find some billionaire to give us an extremely large private donation (any takers?).

The last session of the conference was a brain-storming session on where we should go from here. Since these conferences will only happen every three years, how can we keep the energy and excitement moving until 2014? There were many great ideas, from keeping a blog and having online meetings to hosting smaller, regional workshops and creating an official society. It will be interesting to see if ~100 multidisciplinary science education researchers from across the country can pull together, and what will happen if we do.

McMaster Astronomy Outreach

2011-07-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday, I drove up to McMaster University and had a tour of their 3D visualization lecture theatre and planetarium. The reasons were three-fold: 1) to get in contact with people doing astronomy/physics outreach at McMaster, 2) to see what they're doing in terms of outreach, and 3) to get some ideas for potential programs here.

The 3D lecture theatre was very cool. It's just a "regular" theatre-style lecture hall but, in addition to the regular projector, they have a two-projector system that can create 3D images. They have a special screen that keeps the polarity of the projections, and audiences wear linearly polarized glasses. Anyone on campus can use the theatre, so it is not an astronomy-only facility.

The Origins Institute at McMaster acquired 3D movies and images from the Swinburne University of Technologies’ Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. They chose various movies and images to create an hour-long presentation to give to the public, entitled Extreme Alien Worlds: A 3D Voyage Through and Beyond Our Solar System.

I was able to attend a practice session, and it was fascinating. The 3D movies and images were amazing, and I could see how the public would really enjoy the "show". If you're ever in the Hamilton area, I suggest you get tickets!

I also had a short tour of their planetarium, which is in the basement of one of the buildings (weird, eh?). It's a small planetarium - seating about 35 people - but they have recently upgraded their system to a digital projector and they can do some really cool stuff. They offer a variety of different shows, from how the night sky is viewed in different cultures to how accurate astronomy is portrayed in the movies. Again, if you're in the area, I definitely recommend taking in a show.

Next month I'll be visiting the outreach facilities at the University of Toronto and the Dunlap Institute, so I'll be sure to write a similar post about the programs they offer.

Update on Comment Polls

2011-07-09T19:16:00.002-04:00

The results from my recent polls about the ability to comment on this blog were positive enough that I won't be making any changes or moving my blog to another host. I apologize to the few of you who are bothered by this. If you do have something you would like to say, please feel free to email me and I can even post your comment for you.

Thanks to those of you who responded!

So, this sucks

2011-07-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

I knew sending Evan to daycare was going to be hard. I just didn't know it was going to be this hard. It kind of feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. And I guess it is in a way, since Evan is my heart.

Working from home for the past month with Evan around was difficult. I thought it was a good way to make the transition a bit easier. After all, I knew that I would be able to concentrate on work while at work, then on Evan while at home (instead of doing a crappy job of both). But, I think whatever the circumstances are, it's always hard to give your child over to someone else.

I don't feel guilty, and I know I'm not a bad mother. But, I do feel bad that Evan will be the youngest at the daycare by far. Most children around here start daycare at about 1 year, and Evan is only 8.5 months. I kind of feel like we're being robbed of that time together, and it doesn't seem fair.

It just hurts. I know it will get better, and it's good for both of us, blah, blah, blah. I just want to wallow in my heartache for a bit.

This all being said, it seems like Evan is dealing with it all very well. Apparently, he's a lot better dealing with change than his mommy.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

Long Weekend

2011-07-05T07:00:00.001-04:00

We had a fantastic long weekend!

On Friday, we headed up to Toronto. On the way in, we visited a friend of mine and her husband. They made us taco pie for lunch, and then we went for a walk in their area. They live less than 5 minutes from the beach, and it was so gorgeous!

Fig. 1: Evan enjoying the view.

After lunch, we headed in to downtown Toronto, checked in to our hotel, and Evan had a snack of Cheerios. Then we went out for dinner. Unfortunately, we walked out of the hotel right as the Blue Jay's game let out, so every restaurant within a 5-block radius of the stadium was completely packed. So, we had to walk for about 20 minutes to find a place that a) was suitable to bring an 8-month old, and b) had food we actually wanted to eat. We ended up at this family restaurant - not the greatest cuisine, but it did the trick. Then we bought a couple snacks and went back to the hotel so Evan could get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Fig. 2: For such a little guy, he can sure take up a lot of room. When we woke up in the morning, he was perpendicular to the regular sleeping direction.

The next morning we got up and headed to the zoo! We were worried the weather was going to turn on us (the forecast was for high temperatures and humidity, with thunderstorms), but it was perfect. Evan didn't really seem interested in the animals, but we had a good time anyway.

Fig. 3: Elephant! More zoo pictures to come on Wednesday.

After that, we went back into the city to meet a friend of ours (DH's best-man) for coffee and to see his awesome new apartment. Then, we drove home.

I guess this could constitute our first family vacation, even though it was less than 48-hours. Even though it was short, we still learned some valuable lessons:

Keeping Evan's schedule is of vital importance for everyone's sanity
Mom & Dad skipping meals is not a good idea
Having food and snacks on hand is a good idea
Ready-to-go formula is a blessing (for those of us using formula)
It's best to give Evan breaks from being in his car seat and/or stroller
You do have to sacrifice things for your child when it comes to travel (like limiting your choice of restaurants, or only doing 1-2 things a day), but things are also more fun with him.

Getting back on Saturday evening was wonderful. We were able to get Evan to bed at a reasonable time and relax before heading to bed ourselves. Then, we had Sunday to catch up on all of our usual weekend chores. Plus, we had time to make an amazing dinner of ribs, corn, potatoes, wine, and rhubarb crisp.

I love long weekends, and I have a feeling we're really going to enjoy and take advantage of them now that we're both working again.

Another Poll: Blog Comments

2011-07-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've heard from a few people that they have had difficulty posting comments on my blog. Obviously, this bothers me, since I really like to hear from my readers. I also don't like the idea that some readers might not feel included. I'm contemplating moving over to another blog host, but first I'd like to see how big of a problem this really is.

So, dear readers, please answer the following poll(s):

If you have had trouble posting comments, then:

Hair Poll

2011-06-30T07:00:00.002-04:00

A few months ago, I got bangs. While I love them, I'm just not happy with the style of the rest of my hair. It was a bit too "cute" for my liking, rather than sophisticated. Here is what I'm currently working with:

Fig. 1: Current, very blah, hair (sorry for the not-so-good photo, but you get the point).

I'm often seen with my hair up these days because I just don't know what to do with it anymore. I've had my hair cut twice since then to fix the situation, but it hasn't turned out how I wanted. I think something somewhat drastic needs to be done.

I got a hair consultation done with a real stylist today, and she gave me a couple of good ideas. But, I'm not sure which direction to go. So, my dear readers, what do you think?

Fig. 2: Should I keep the length and put a ton of layers in it (the last time I got my hair cut, I asked for this look and it obviously didn't happen)?

OR

Fig. 3: Should I cut it shorter into a sleek bob-style?

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

2011-06-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

Fig. 1: Our new stained glass window in our new powder room (update and photos to come once the final touches are complete).

First Month on the Job

2011-06-28T07:00:00.004-04:00

It has been almost a month since I started my new job, and I love it so far. The teachers, graduate students, staff, and faculty I work with are all so enthusiastic and excited about outreach. There are no nay-sayers (as I've dealt with plenty of times in the past). In fact, it's the opposite, with everyone wanting to do everything, but not having the time or resources!

That being said, it has been increasingly difficult having Evan at home. That is mostly because I've been having more and more meetings as the month goes on, and having Evan attend those meetings is slightly distracting. Thankfully, DH has been able to help out during the day and has taken Evan for an hour or two (or more) pretty much every day for the past two weeks. He is awesome, and I can't thank him enough for making my first month on the job a bit easier.

DH is taking the first week off in July, and Evan starts daycare that week too. So, DH will help Evan with that transition while I'm able to go into the office. Although I'm slightly excited about Evan starting daycare, I'm also nervous about it - will he like the staff? how will he deal with the other babies? will he cry the entire time? will he forget and/or hate me? - but I imagine every parent feels that way.

As I go into my second month on the job, I feel confident and excited. I have meetings scheduled with all sorts of interesting people to brainstorm ideas for new events, activities, and workshops. I am incredibly blessed that I have a wonderful husband, an amazing son, great family and friends, and now a fantastic ~~job~~ career. It feels like I'm finally where I'm supposed to be and doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

Someone pinch me! On second thought --- don't!

Swear Pyramid

2011-06-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

In order to clean up our language so Evan doesn't learn awful things from us, we have a swear jar at home. Every time we swear or say/do something inappropriate, we have to put in $0.25. This money will go in to a saving's account for Evan. It's amazing how much money is in the jar already, but we're definitely cutting down.

How do we deem something is inappropriate? Basically, if we wouldn't want Evan to repeat it, we have to put $$ in.

A few days ago, we got into a debate about whether certain words or phrases should be worth more money. We disagreed on which swears were more insulting/inappropriate.

So, my awesome readers, please put the following common swear words in order from the most to the least level of inappropriateness (using some symbols so sicko Google searches don't bring my blog up):

@ss, @sshole, b!tch, cr@p, d@mn, fr!ckin'/fra¢kin', fu¢k, he¢k, hell, sh!t

Also, where would you put the following in the list:

- "yo' mama" jokes
- taking the Lords name in vain

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

Clean Bill of Health

2011-06-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Since Evan's scare when he was a month old, we've been taking him to follow-up with specialists. This hasn't been fun, since they were talking about some serious stuff when he was in the hospital (developmental problems, liver problems, genetic deficiencies, etc.).

One of the specialists was a pediatric neurologist. When Evan was in the hospital, he had to endure (among other things) a CT-scan, an MRI, and a 48-hour EEG (30 electrodes glued to his head for two days). They found nothing wrong. So, just to make sure things were okay, Evan had a follow-up appointment with him at the beginning of June. The doctor took one look at him -- sitting, playing, being a normal kid -- and said there is absolutely nothing to worry about, he's dead on developmentally for his age, and we never have to see him again. YAY!

Another specialist, a pediatric gastroenterologist, was a bit of a different story. During Evan's hospital say, he just happened to get some blood work done because he had high bilirubin (jaundice) levels when he was born. So, they repeated that test at the hospital and found they had gone down substantially, but were still elevated. This doctor proceeded to explain to us that high bilirubin levels could cause staining of the brain which could lead to developmental issues, etc., etc.. Needless to say, we were freaked out. Good thing we both have good heads on our shoulders, because we asked him if that was the leading cause of elevated levels. It turns out that, nope, that's not the case --- it's more likely due to breast milk jaundice and will go away on its own in a month or two.

Sigh. Gotta love doctors sometimes.

Anyway, we ended up having to take Evan to this doctor every month (sometimes twice a month) since then. His jaundice levels did go back to normal after a couple of months, as expected, BUT his liver enzymes were ever so slightly elevated. Last time, in April, they did some blood work to test for common liver problems (Hepatitis, for example), and all came back negative, but his enzymes were still out of the normal range.

Today Evan had another appointment. Of course, the doctor started talking about doing genetic testing, liver biopsies (which have a known mortality rate in children), and other things if Evan's levels weren't normalized this time. Part of me freaked out, but after talking to DH about how this guy tends to jump to the scariest conclusions, we decided to see what the results were before going off the deep end.

And, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, all is well!

So, FINALLY, we can forget about the whole ordeal back in November and know that our little man has a completely clean bill of health! YAY!

Eight Months

2011-06-19T07:00:00.004-04:00

Ah, my little man is sure growing fast! How has it been eight months already? Here are some fun things from the past month:

- He does this thing we call "raging bull" where he scrunches up his nose and breathes in and out loudly (like a bull).

- His new favorite thing to do is to squeal. This is not Mom or Dad's favorite thing.

- He loves being surprised. He laughs hysterically if I jump into the room saying "Bang!". Or come from under the covers saying "Boo!". He also likes to be covered up with a blanket and then find his way out, or do this with mommy covered up.

- He gets so frustrated so easily (like his mom). He will attempt to crawl for about 10 seconds before he starts complaining. Needless to say, crawling isn't going so well. Though, in the past few days, he's started to do the inch-worm thing and is able to move...well...inches...with a lot of effort.

- He likes saying "Ahhhh" for as long as he can possibly hold it. We're pretty sure he keeps trying to break his previous record. He especially likes doing this in the car and on walks. We think it's because it makes his voice wobble when we go over bumps, and he finds this fascinating.

- He likes saying "na-na-na", "ga-ga-ga", and "da-da-da". He's said "ma-ma-ma" a few times, but not nearly as much. He's doing multiple syllable sounds too, which is ultra-cute.

- When he sees one of us appear above his crib in the morning, there is a 1-2 second delay before the recognition sets in and then he gives us a huge smile and starts squirming like crazy.

- He always wants to play with what we have in our hands, even if he just put it down seconds before.

- He still absolutely loathes baths. Seriously. We actually close the windows during bath time so our neighbors don't think we're torturing him.

- He likes being held upside down, swung around, shaken/twisted side-to-side, and generally treated like a rag doll.

- He's an amazing eater, and has tried more food than I probably did in my first 20 years.

Happy 8-months, little man!

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