the semester begins

It looks like we're going to be barely able to keep our heads on this semester, so I'm going to be posting once a week, on Sunday.

I started my class this week, on teaching undergraduates using writing. It's an exhilarating class so far, because it's something I haven't thought a lot about, and there's an enormous field of research supporting the use of writing across the curriculum. There's a lot of good stuff to learn about. There's also a discussion section to the class - I haven't been in a truly discussion-based class since St. John's, so it's reminding me how much I love and hate seminar.

Eric and I went to work together on Friday. It's so nice to go in to work with somebody, and to have someone to eat lunch with, and someone to walk to the car with. Office romances have their problems to be sure, but the benefits are very pleasant!

Since Juniper is the only rabbit left, we moved her inside this weekend and took the loom out to the shed to await rehabilitation. Here she is in her new digs:

The object on the end of her cage is my Christmas present from Lloyd and Eric.

It's a skein winder, for all the yarn that I've been spinning. There's no metal in it - it's all held together with joins or wooden pins, and a little bit of glue. We just tested it out with some yarn from a project I didn't like, and it worked beautifully!

This is a shawl I'm making for my cousin. I'm afraid it might be enormous - afraid because it will take forever. I increase 2 stitches on the wrong side rows and 4 stitches on the right side! And it's supposed to be 144 rows long! At least it's wintery and my room is now in order, so I have nothing to do but knit when I'm home. 

Oscar has been enjoying climbing inside things.

And finally, here is Oscar trying to walk while wearing shoes. He hasn't quite figured it out yet.

I think this is really going to be a crazy week. I start teaching - Eric starts working - Oscar keeps growing... wish us luck!

Eric's other new job

I start another new job monday.  I can perform this one while I teach a section of bio at the community college.  My days are filling up!  This position is technically considered a laboratory assistant II position but Dr. Gaines affectionately calls me his lab manager.  I am in charge of setting up, cleaning and organizing a lab as well as initiating projects that can be handed off to grad students when we start recruiting.

This is Dr. Todd Gaines my new boss and adviser.  He's a righteous dude. 

This is Amaranthus or "pigweed"

This is Kochia.

Amaranthus and Kochia are some pretty hostile and serious weed and both threaten farmland.  These two species are controlled using the herbicide glyphosate (roundup) but in the last decade they have evolved a pretty hardy resistance and no one knows why.  That's where our lab steps in...we are investigating the mechanism for resistance acquisition. I can't wait to get started.  I have a huge start up budget to work with and a beautiful lab space with windows!  I can even decorate it however I want.  Todd thinks we need a sound system to play some sweet tunes while we work.  I also have some pretty serious computing power.  We have a few super computers (256 gigs of ram!) to help us out and over 12 terabytes of storage for our data sets.  I have a feeling the learning curve will be high but I can't imagine a funner assignment.  I get to be queen (king) bee and make all lab based decisions.  I also get to train the newbs and bend them to my will....YOU VILL DO VHAT I SAY!  

Anyway its sweet.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Phew!

Oscar devours a pear

Little fajah

U 

Unprecedented kitty swarm

This has been quite a week! Eric started teaching at ACC, and it seems to be going well. I am being bossed around by the biology department and the lab coordinator, which is making me quite grumpy. Oslo passed away on Wednesday night unexpectedly. Eric seems to have gotten a job as lab coordinator for a new professor on campus, although it won't be official until Monday or Tuesday. We'll be able to ride the bike to work together again! And now we're all sick with a dumb cold from daycare, so we've been wearing loungewear non-stop and self-medicating with Popsicles.

Misc Pics Post Christmas

Getting Ready

Struttin' in our new ride...

Happy Camper

Green Ice Pop Prize for being a Champ

We're getting the band back together!

Not really. But, Pat has finished perfecting the album and it is now available for purchase, at cdbaby for the low low price of $1.29: http://cdbaby.com/cd/thelaydownsister, but also at iTunes, Amazon, spotify, wherever. It has an E for Explicit Lyrics rating on iTunes, which I hope makes Pat happy. The album is called After the Red Giant. I haven't listed to the final version yet myself, so I make no promises. May it satisfy your curiosity.

Professor Patterson

Eric has been hired at AIMS community college as a professor! He will be teaching one section of Introductory Biology starting on Tuesday!! He may also be working full-time as a lab manager... It's going to be a busy semester.

We made it!

Oscar is such a good traveling baby! We made it safely back to Fort Collins today without much fuss. It was fun to get home and unpack the presents and see where they'll all go in the house! Oscar took a giant nap on the plane - Eric's butt fell asleep but at least so did O.

What a nice visit that was. We got to meet Casper, and Josh, and say hello again to Henry. We weren't responsible for anything, which is such a relaxing feeling! Two weeks is definitely the best for a vacay. But now we're back, and Pocky is purring on my lap, and Garage is purring nearby (and Mo is just prowling), and we put Oscar to sleep without having to ask anyone to stop shouting. So there are advantages there too.

Oscar is delighted to toddle around this tiny house. He is fearless and only needs to learn to stand up on his own before he's fully functional.

Texas Ranger for the new year!