Hannahbanana

What's new with you? I want to know.

With me?

My sister Beth and her husband Alfredo welcomed a delightful new addition, baby Isaac, into their family at the beginning of the month. Yay!

Esther came to visit from England for about two weeks. We went to New York City. We went to Chicago. We turned 32. We ate and ate and ate. We laughed almost non-stop. I was sad to say goodbye.

Traffic Jam

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My classes are kicking my butt, but in a good way; kicking me into shape intellectually. I feel as if I am slowly being shaped into a better scholar and a better thinker. With the exception of one class which is fairly dull, I am being challenged and pushed. As part of my undergraduate research training scholarship I am working with a faculty member who looks at teachers who become sexually involved with their students. I am delving into Shakespeare more deeply than ever before. I am researching medieval drama. I am learning data analysis and research methodology. I am soaking up brilliant literature and finding that my Current Political Ideologies class, in which we discuss philosophy and psychology more than we do politics, is really just inexpensive therapy. I love it all. This kind of stuff makes me love being a student.

Love it so much, apparently, that I am studying (in theory -- certainly not in practice) for the GRE so that I can -- with luck -- get accepted into the Master's program that I'm eyeing.

I am also, for the fifth time, teaching a class for gifted students through Purdue's Gifted Education Research Institute.

No matter how busy I am, my little ones -- as enchanting as ever -- still need me just as much. They also need those pesky quotidian necessities such as food, clean clothes, rides to activities and friends' houses, and someone to listen to the stories of their day. I'm not going to lie: finding a balance is hard. Fortunately, my little world is full of very supportive people and I am not afraid to admit to my limitations. I can call my mother-in-law, tell her I need help, and know that she will be willing to get on a plane and take over the reins at home for a while. She arrives in about two weeks.

Photos of Esther's visit to follow. In the meantime, here's a taste of NYC.

Lady Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge

Angel

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• My camera is gathering dust on the dining room floor
• My for-pleasure reading has given up hope of so much as even a glance in its direction
• When I accomplish one thing, get something under my belt, I move immediately onto the next most pressing item and it just doesn't end.

But, I am staying pretty on top of school work and house work and being a good mother (thus far), and can't even remember the last time I threatened a nervous breakdown. That must be progress.

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When I was in England I ate heavenly cupcakes from Marks & Spencers.

Raspberry and white chocolate, and lemon meringue.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I have thought about them every. single. day.  since.

Who says I'm an obsessive person?

.

as long as they're in it.

Sari

Libby modeling a sari at last weekend's Globelfest

Runner

Jesse, after setting a 3K PB today

We have five versions of Trivial Pursuit.  I remember a time when Todd and I used to play Trivial Pursuit every. single. day. We had a brand-new baby and a toddler. Todd was finishing his Bachelor's degree and that was our entertainment. Good times. I miss sitting cross-legged on our bedroom floor, board in between us, after the kids had gone down for the night. Ah, nostalgia. Of course, the way I remember it is that I always won. (Actually, what would really happen would be that we would both have all of our pie pieces except the Sports one. We knew from experience that we'd be there a month of Sundays trying to answer a sports question correctly so we'd call it a draw. That's why if you ever team up for Trivial Pursuit you should try to finagle the sports buff onto your team.)

No Googling. That's just cheating.

EDIT: Correct answers in red

Card #1: Pop Culture edition

Movies: What fictional college is the setting for Revenge of the Nerds?

TV: According to Chuck Woolery, how long until Love Connection would be back from a commercial break? Two and two

Music: What was the stage name of the Dead Kennedys' lead singer?

Sports & Games: What heavyweight champ enlisted in the Marines in 1997, only to drop out 11 days later?

Buzz: Which of the actors that played James Bond once competed in a Mr. Universe contest? Sean Connery 

Fads: Which former heavyweight boxing champ now boasts the top-selling home grill? George Foreman

Card # 2: Book Lovers edition

Children's Books: What siblings have solved more than 70 mysteries since 1904, in such exotic locales as Pilgrim Rock, Eskimo Land and Whitesail Harbor?

Classics: What Frenchman's 1898 novel Le Superbe Orinoque was not published in English until 2003? Jules Verne

Non-Fiction: What writer spiced up his travel books with exotic titles like Jaguars Ripped My Flesh and A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg?

Book Club: What novel did Graham Greene write four years before The Third Man, but print 37 years after it?

Authors: What cousin of the Duke of Wellington published Jumping the Queue, the first of her racy romances, at age 70?

Book Bag: What is child tactician Andrew Wiggin's better-known nickname, in Orson Scott Card's novels? Ender

Card #3: Family edition

People & Places: What side dish do residents of Quebec smother in cheese curds and gravy, and call poutine? French fries

Entertainment: Who did Bette Midler introduce at Philadelphia Live Aid as: "A woman who pulled herself up by her bra-straps"? Madonna

History: What Asian city suffered a 84-mile-long traffic jam in 1990? Tokyo

Wild Card: What African-American writer lost sight in one eye when a brother shot her with a B.B. gun? Alice Walker

Science & Nature: What does the average koala do for twenty-two hours of the day? Sleep

Sports & Leisure: Which 2000 Olympic event included eight beautifully made-up twins among the forty-eight competitors in its pairs event? Synchronized swimming

Card #4: Genus IV edition

People & Places: What two Hungarian towns on either side of the Danube merged in 1872? Buda and Pest

Art & Entertainment: What calypso singer founded the USA For Africa charity that recorded We Are the World? Harry Belafonte

History: What nation's 90-man army is the world's oldest, dating back to 1506? Vatican City

Science & Nature: What word was coined when a trapped moth caused an early computer to crash? Bug

Sports & Leisure: What gymnastics guru did author Joan Ryan call "the high priest of insensitivity"? Bela Karolyi

Wild Card: What beautiful young man was a personal favorite of Aphrodite and Persephone? Adonis

Card # 5: Genus V edition

People & Places: What Southeastern state leads the U.S. in obese people per capita, according to the CDC? Mississippi

Art & Entertainment: Who had a hankerin' for Clarice Starling, in a 1988 novel? Hannibal Lecter

History: What future First Lady was the first to make a Spanish-language ad to score the Latino vote for her hubby? Jackie Kennedy

Science & Nature: What's the largest single crop in the U.S., measured in raw acreage?

Sports & Leisure: What golf course had the "only dogleg par 3 in the world" until additional cliff land was purchased in the 1990s? Pebble Beach

Wild Card: Who did Allen Ginsberg call "a French Canadian Hinayana Buddist Beat Catholic Savant"? Jack Kerouac 

I need to update my blog simply so that I don't see a photograph of my feet every time I sit down in front of my computer.

Unfortunately, just one week into the semester I am operating purely in survival mode. In survival mode, only the bare minimum needs to be done to be considered adequate. It's a good job I don't feel the need to prove myself to anybody. Except my professors of course.

I am taking a few graduate-level classes this semester which is interesting in ways I don't want to express on a public blog. My load is comprised of four English classes (Black Women Writers, American Women Poets, Shakespeare, Medieval Drama), two Political Science classes (Rich and Poor Nations and Current Political Ideologies) and one research methodology class.

I have to say that although I anticipate this semester being demanding, I am so glad to be using my brain again. Reading during the summer just doesn't cut it, doesn't challenge me or make me work for knowledge. School is hard work but I have way too much potential to not be doing what I'm doing.

Now, if I could just remember that at 5:30 every morning...

Summer feet

Goodbye Chaco tan lines.

Goodbye summer days.

Tomorrow I'm back at uni, with a 21-credit, seven class course load to boot.