100 Days Project -- Day 23

Huh?



College students put in a lot of hours. During the semester, they are very likely to have very few days when they aren't doing some kind of school work -- reading, writing, gathering materials for reading and writing, and reading and writing some more.

This is a given, yes? And the majority of our students at Fresno State also work at least part-time AND many of them already have families.

That means they don't get a lot of down time while they're students.

This is kind of a bummer, but it's for a good cause, right? And there's an end in sight...when they graduate, though they'll still be busy, if they get the decent careers they're aiming for, they'll get time off. Actual days where they don't have to do their "career work" OR school work.

While they're in college, though, perhaps because they have to work so much, and get so little time off...they think their professors should also be working on the weekends and over vacations.

But what they don't seem to realize is that

this is my career.

I'm in it for 20+ years.

And I'm still working well into the evening on many weekdays. And more often than not, put in time on weekends and vacations, too. Yes, I know I have summers off, but you should see the list of things at work that I need to catch up on over summer.

Something's wrong here.

I believe I'm overdue to graduate.

100 Days Project -- Day 22

Flashback

Bob and I were in SaveMart this afternoon, picking up some things to cook for a very casual Easter dinner -- Happy Easter, by the way!

This is the same SaveMart I've been shopping in since 2008. I started shopping there while I was renting a room from Katie, the year I returned to Fresno State after taking a leave of absence for a year to be a roving reporter in Colorado. But I digress....

The point I'm trying to make is that I've been shopping at this SaveMart every week for quite a few years. And after all these years, who did I finally run into?



Jenny Cain! Well, it's not Cain now, but that's what it was when we looked like this, back in the late 80s and early 90s...wow!

Needless to say, she doesn't look like this any more, nor do I. We exchanged phone numbers so maybe I'll post an updated pic soon. But ya gotta admit, we were something, yes?



This was back in the BUMCO days. Good times.

How on earth did we afford all that hairspray?

100 Days Project -- Day 21

Random



We ate at one of our favorite local restaurants tonight, Pismo's. We usually eat at the bar, as the wait for tables is super long, and the bartenders always treat us well. Tonight, as we were eating, a dad had to bring his preschooler by us a few times on his way to the lobby, as the little guy was having some pretty loud temper tantrums. It wasn't overwhelming, as it's loud in there anyway, but our bartender noticed it, and mentioned to us in passing, "I think I want kids, and then I see that, and have doubts." She was kidding, but it reminded me of this commercial from Europe, which of course, I pulled up to show her.

Gotta love European commercials.

100 Days Project -- Day 20

Treasures



Dad's been gone 4 1/2 years now, and still, every once in awhile, I come across an old photo that I didn't realize I had.

Like this one.

Dad and Wimp at Rhino's.

So thankful we had him as long as we did. So aware of his influence in my life, still, every day.

Kinda fun to think that, maybe, he and Wimp get together every day up there, at 4:00, to have a cold one.

Just like they used to at Rhino's.

100 Days Project -- Day 19

Just Got Home...I'm Out

100 Days Project -- Day 18

Read to Me

In the three years we've been together, there have been a handful of times that Bob and I have spent a significant amount of time together in his truck. For instance, there have been multiple trips to Oregon, once for trailer-camping, and too-many-times-to-count for house hunting -- and buying -- in Bend. And last summer, we went to Montana for Caty and Andy's wedding in Glacier National Park.

We've spent HOURS in the truck together.

And it's actually quite nice. We spend time talking, viewing great American scenery, sometimes listening to music, and of course, sleeping. Well, I sleep. Bob drives. We're at the tail-end of a trip right now. It's my Spring Break, and we drove up to Bend to check on the house and spend time with friends, and are now taking our time getting back home by way of one night in Reno and one night in Bridgeport. On this trip, I spent a lot of our truck-time grading exams and catching up on work email.

But there's also been time to read to Bob while he's driving.



We're almost to the end of the Kindle version of this, which we started on our last trip to Bend, I think. It's been so interesting reading about the circumstances and historical events leading up to Kennedy's assassination. Today, just about 20 miles out of Bridgeport, we made it through the assassination itself, and Bob had a difficult time understanding me through my sobs. Powerful stuff.

When we went to Montana last summer, Caty's brother's partner told us about this book:



We bought it before we left Glacier National Park, and read it on the way home. And I'm SO glad we didn't read it while still in the park. I would have had to stay in the truck the entire time. With a loaded rifle at the ready. It was terrifying.It's the true story of two deadly grizzly attacks that occurred in Glacier in the summer of 1967...on the same night. Chilling.

The first book I read to Bob in the truck was another exciting one that I'd read silently to myself years ago.



I was certain Bob would really like it, and was right. He was mesmerized, as I was.

And so began our tradition of reading great books aloud together while traveling.

Looking forward to reading the rest of "Killing Kennedy" tomorrow. I hope we have enough miles left.

100 Days Project -- Day 17

Middle Childhood Flix Fix

I teach child development, which covers birth through adolescence. Typically, people who teach child development specialize in a specific age range. For me, that is early childhood because I came to the field through being a preschool teacher, and most of my research has been in preschool classrooms. I love 3- to 5-year-olds because they can be amazingly verbal; completely illogical one moment, and more logical than most adults the next; and you don't have to guess what they're thinking or feeling...it's all out there, plain as day.

School-aged kids, though, they're another ball 'o wax. And about three years ago, I began teaching an upper division course on middle childhood, which spans 6- to 12-years-old. I don't have as much experience here, though when I first began teaching preschool, I was also a substitute teacher for an after-school program at the Ventura YMCA where I mostly worked with kindergarteners and 1st graders. And in my last year in the doctoral program at UT, I supervised undergraduates as they did field experience in K-3rd grade classrooms in three elementary schools. I don't have as many firsthand experiences to draw from, though, so I've found that since I started teaching the course, in addition to reading whatever I can find about school-aged kids, I also tend to be drawn to movies with children that age in them.

I even use some of them in class. For instance, my students watch the movie "Billy Elliot" and write a paper in which they analyze 11-year-old Billy's life for middle childhood developmental concepts.





Great movie (here's a trailer if you're not familiar), and I'll be reading this semester's batch of papers soon.

Though I wouldn't use it for the same type of paper, "Stand by Me" definitely has good middle childhood themes in it.





When I get around to using some clips from it, the "cool factor" is evident, as I'm able to tell my students that my high school principal's brother co-wrote the screenplay and was nominated for an Oscar for it. True story. Great flick, as you'll see in this trailer. (And many of my students watch "The Big Bang Theory," so they'll likely get a kick out of the fact that Wil Wheaton is there on the left.)

I'm not sure why this movie wasn't more popular in the U.S., but it's another great one with a school-aged child as the main character: "Millions." The trailer will give you a little taste.



I absolutely love that Damian, the main character, has an incredibly vivid imagination. He is not only obsessed with learning all he can about all of the Catholic saints, but imagines that he has conversations with them...including female saints that smoke like truckers.



And I found this one just a few weeks ago, a film from Japan called "I Wish."



The main character is one of two brothers whose parents have recently split, and he lives with his mom and grandparents, while his little brother lives with his dad in another city. He longs to bring their family back together, and hears from a schoolmate that, if you make a wish at the exact moment that two new super-trains pass each other going opposite directions, it will come true. He enlists the help of his brother and their friends to make this happen, and it's hilarious and heart-warming all at the same time.



One of my current students is from Japan, and she had not heard of the movie, and I recommended it (see trailer here). She watched it (loved it, too), and said that the two boys in it are actually brothers, and are very popular in Japan. When I get around to using clips -- or even the entire movie when I get tired of "Billy Elliot" -- that will work for "cool factor."

Always helps to have that.