And the new semester begins...

So the new semester started this week and... well... yeah. Things are busy. Again.  Always.  I am teaching again and am excited to be back in the classroom.  I mean, half excited, half considering never doing this again.  I did have my first lecture on Thursday and it went well.  My new building is... rather unusual for a college class.  I felt like a picture was needed to really explain how unusual.

That's right.  It's a chapel.  Like is SAYS "CHAPEL" on the outside.

And it has stained glass windows. And a balcony. And really fancy church lights.

Also, it DOES NOT HAVE air conditioning.  Oh, and half way through my first lecture the projector broke*.  

Try not be be jealous of me and my glamorous life.

I have 100 students and they did seem to enjoy the first lecture... or at least they laughed when I wanted them to and I didn't even see anyone asleep.  I will choose to take that as a sign that this is a good group!  

Nick is teaching his engineering lab again as well, plus he is taking a class so it's going to be all school/work all the time around here.  You know, except for when it's all baseball all the time... a see a lot of carry out dinners in our near future.

*Luckily one of my 100 students works for the University IT and he got up and helped.
 

Back to Baseball

Henry had his first fall ball practice last night which means... well, I guess it just means we are back at the ball field like 3-4 nights per week. We have a new coach and a totally different team, but we did manage to get these two together.

I know, with the faces, right?  But I took four pictures and this was BY FAR the best. Also, I am getting Henry's bangs cut today. 

Anyway, not a lot to say about practice really.  It went well.  I took pictures.  Like this one:

Just look at him!  Gah.  Love.

And this one....

And the (always required) break down cheer.  In fall ball the teams don't get names so they always let the kids pick.  Last year we were the cats but somehow this season we are the Cardinals.  I think Henry's hat might of had something to do with it...

When we were leaving the park we did run into some of the old Cardinals crew, which was great. They had two snakes with them, which was... less great according to me.  EXTREMELY AWESOME according to Henry.  As we walked away Henry said "You know... I think I might want a pet snake.  That or a wolf"

Wolf is far more likely, kiddo.
 

When Bee Stings Go Bad

So I assume you are all surprised that I am once again talking about my bee sting. I mean, I posted about that a week ago. A WEEK AGO.  Could I really have more to say?

Yep! 

So over the last week I have slowly realized that my foot is really NOT okay post sting.  You can't really tell in the picture, but it was swollen as hell. Plus it hurts, it itches like there was no tomorrow, and it burns/tingles/feels sorta numb. It's been fun.

In typical me fashion I put off doing anything about it until Sunday because I was too embarrassed to go to the doctor about a bee sting.  I mean, bees happen, I don't need to be a baby about it or anything.  I think on maybe Friday I googled it because, you know... my foot looked freakish, and it say a mild reaction can last up to ten days, so I figured that's what I had.  But by Sunday it was definitely getting worse and not better and it had me up several times in the night because of the ITCHING so I broke down and went to the weekend clinic.  The nurse practitioner took one look at it and was like "Yeah.... that should NOT look that way at day eight." 

Turns out I am having an intense localized reaction with a secondary infection.  She took measurements and told me to pay close attention to if it changes.  She said it it gets any bigger to go back to the doc right away and if it starts streaking go straight to the ER.  AWESOME!

Twenty four hours later, with two antibiotics and a steroid pack, it's looking significantly better.  The redness looks brighter but the swelling is WAY down and it no longer feels like a huge knot under my skin. It still itches like hell, but I am hoping that's the next thing to get better.

So... in sum, I hate bees. And apparently they hate me.
 

Bio Girl's Reading Corner

Man, I am not at all consistent with when I post these reading posts, am I? This one is actually sparked by a post referencing one of my older reading corner posts that Mel discusses today over at Stirrup Queens. (Thanks Mel!) Her post reminded me that I had once again forgotten to blog about my reading addiction, so here you go! Here's what I have been reading:

 The Martian by Andy Weir: This book is so great.  Like, it is one of the few books I have ever read that actually made me tear up out of excitement/emotions/pride? I don't know. What's the emotion that causes you to cry during the Olympics? Do other people do that? Well, if you DO, then THAT. THAT is the feeling I had at one point during this book.  The movie comes out in October and I CANNOT WAIT.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah Maas: Man, I have a thing for fractured fairy tales, and I have a thing for Sarah Maas, so this book was perfect for me!  I wouldn't rank it as high as I rank her Throne of Glass series, but this is definitely worth reading if you like fantasy/fairy tale/distopian type stories with strong female leads.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven: This is one of those books I heard great things about, and that I sorta really liked as a read it, but as it wrapped up I decided this is NOT the type of book for me. I know life is real and life is hard and not everything can be magically fixed, but I don't really need to read an entire book that reminds me that sometimes life sucks.

The Magician's Lie by Greer Macallister: I liked this story. I didn't love it, but it was worth reading.  For some reason the title bothers me but I can't even tell you why because it would give away too much of the story.

The Angelfall series b Susan Ee: So this series was something I read because it kept popping up on Amazon as a "Since you liked this, we KNOW you will like Angelfall!" and I did.  I liked it just fine. I don't think it's the best of this type of trilogy/fantasy/Angel stories (It's no Daughter of Smoke and Bone !) but it was good enough to keep me entertained throughout the series.  I didn't love how it all wrapped up, which always sorta messes up my final feelings on a series like this.

Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier: I heard great things about this book, and I can see why people really like it, but it wasn't my cup of tea.  It was fine, but it took me a long time to get through it because I was just never hooked. Once it wrapped up I regretted even starting it.  Just meh.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult: So this was the first Jodi Picoult book I have ever read and I liked her writing style, and parts of the story were REALLY interesting to me, but I can't bring myself to say I loved or highly recommend the book.  It was interesting, that's for sure. And it made me think, but there were components that were key to the story that made it hard for me to love.  It isn't really the story's fault.  The story is the story, and it's a compelling one, just not one I could ever say I loved.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: So as I am putting this post together I am realizing how many books I have read over the last several months that I am just "meh" on.  This is another one.  I heard great things, and for me it was just okay. I had it all figured out extremely early in the book so there was no big shocking reveal.  Plus I didn't really care for any of the characters.  It's a bad combination. 

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah Maas: This is actually more of a place holder where I can mention that I decided to reread the entire Throne of Glass series in preparation for the 4th book coming out on September 1st.  Damn, this series is amazing.  You should ALLL read it.

Along with that, I have also been rereading some other favorites.  It's been awhile since I went on a rereading binge, but it's been AMAZING.  I started with the Sea of Tranquility, which... ALL THE FEELINGS. Then I began Throne of Glass. I also listened to the audio books for the first two Red Rising books (AMAZING!) and now I am listening to the Outlander series. I am at book four and IT IS SO INTENSE.  I also decided it's time for yet another rereading/listening to Harry Potter because... well... 

So that's it!  What have you read recently? anything you highly recommend??


 

Killer Bee

So yesterday while walking through the back yard a bee got stuck between my foot and my shoe.  As expected, it stung me.  While I realize this shouldn't be worthy of a blog post, I am telling you about it anyway because, HOLY HELL, bee stings hurt like a son of a bitch.  I mean, not to be a baby about this or anything (I am totally being a baby about this) but it STILL hurts.  And it's like, A DAY LATER.

Now, the way I see it, getting stung on the foot has to be one of the worst places to be stung.  I mean of course I see it that way since it was where I was stung, and so I can imagine no worse pain, but it's a reasonable assumption. Also, I am not really clear on if some bee stings are worse than others, like does the bee control the amount of torture they put you through or are all bee stings created equal? Because if the bee has any form of  control over poison level, my bee was out for vengeance.  When I realized I was being stung I looked down and the bastard was STUCK IN MY FOOT.  I started ... well... honestly I started swearing like a sailor and kicked my shoe across the yard but the bee STAYED attached to my foot.  I looked at him and I am pretty sure he looked at me and his eyes said if he was going down, he was taking me down with him.

Which, he sorta did.

Nick came over and was like "What the hell?!?!" And I was like " BEEEEEE!!!"

But with WAY more cuss words.

Anyway, we put ice on it and I moped around for a bit, then I got a little embarrassed of my ice pack and put on a shoe to go out and finish pulling weeds.  THEN I GOT A BLISTER.

I just.

I can't even.

Clearly nature hates me.

Or maybe nature was just having a bad day because I know two other people who were ALSO stung by bees yesterday. WHAT THE HELL, BEES?

 At the very least, now when the dreaded day comes that Henry is stung I will have the appropriate amount of sympathy.

Growing...

So several people mentioned how much Henry has grown recently, and I was like, "Yeah... he sorta has, right?"  I mean, I look at him every day, but I have noticed him seeming a little taller maybe.  But, being the scientist that I am, I decided to refer back to previous data to see what changes may have occured over time.  I pulled up the pics from the first day of kindergarten and... well...

GOOD LORD.

And (of course) I couldn't stop there, so I started lining up the other pictures from his first days.

And... yeah...

He is definitely getting bigger. 

And THEN I remembered this picture from his first day of pre-school.

And well... I would be okay if time slowed down, just a little.

1st Day of 1st Grade

Well, there is no denying it now. He is officially a first grader....

And clearly he is the most adorable 1st grade that has ever lived.

Silly face...

I realize this is sorta too many pictures for a first day of school post, but LOOK AT THIS BACKPACK

It's a Zelda shield... in case you aren't in the know in regards to Zelda battle equipment.

And a last shot from his new desk in his new first grade room.  I can't wait to hear all about his day. 

Time sure does fly.

 

Back on the Bandwagon

So I have sorta avoided this topic for the last month, but I think I am ready to full embrace where I am in life. And that place is on a diet.  I hesitate to even mention it here because I feel like we have been down this road a few times before.  Actually... I guess after eight years of blogging we have been down ALL the main topic roads before, but I just hate to be like "I am dieting!" then "I lost weight!" Then, inevitably..."Welp... I gained it all back." But it is what it is, and I am solidly back in the "gained it all (plus some) back" category, so might as well admit it.

Honestly, I have not been successful with losing much weight and keeping it off since we lost Missy. Through the grief of her getting sicker, then us losing her, I put on a lot of weight. I am a comfort eater... it is who I am.  After that, I had my hysterectomy and I have just never been able to get any dieting traction.  I would try for a couple of weeks, lose five pounds, then give up.  Then,  since they hysterectomy I would diet for a couple of weeks, lose two pounds, get frustrated that it wasn't working FASTER, say f*ck it and eat an entire pack of Oreos.

It's been a fun cycle.

And by fun I mean depressing.

But, after we got home from vacation I hit a weight I haven't seen since my post pregnancy days and I decided it was time to really really try.  I am not using anything beyond the always effective eat-less-and-move-more method. I am back on My Fitness Pal because I have had a lot of success with it in the past, and it is once again working.  Not as fast as it did before the hysterectomy, but slowly and surely the weight is coming off.

As of today I am down seven pounds.  It might not sound like a lot, but it FEELS like a lot.  It has been nearly a month and every time I get on the scale the number ticks down, and it's making me feel better about myself and my efforts to be healthier.  I would be lying if I said I didn't care about the number on the scale, because I do, but in all honesty I am not even sure why my final goal number is.  I just know I want to feel better about myself. I want to like the way I look, and I want to like the way I feel.  Right now neither is true.  So, I will work on this until I do... that might be another ten pounds, it might be another twenty.  I am fairly certain I will know it when I get there. 

So... I will once again post this high quality graphic I made in 2012:

As always, I will keep you updated on my progress... Unless I eat a pack of Oreos tomorrow.  If that happens I will likely keep it to myself.

 

Winding Down

And just like that, Henry's first summer is nearly done. Tonight we have his back to school bash and class officially starts back next Wednesday.

We got his teacher assignment last week and he got the teacher he wanted. So did Luke, so, you know, all is right with the world. 

We bought all of his school supplies including an awesome new backpack. 

We have nearly finished he summer calendar of assignments that included things like go swimming and build a tower out of marsh mellows and toothpicks. 

We have read lots of books and practiced math*. 

But mostly we have relaxed. 

He has managed to completely flip his schedule, staying up late and sleeping in until  around 11am every morning. 

He has had several pajama days, one of which he filled with an embarrassing number of episodes of Pokemon. 

We went on a three week vacation, met Mickey, learned to swim, spent tons of time with friends and family .... all in all it's been a pretty perfect summer.

And while he is completely content with heading back to school and his friends, I am a little sad that it's already over. 

I never knew that I would love summer break as a parents just as much if not more than I loved it as a kid.  These days sure are precious.

 *Working in his math workbook. You now, for fun.  Because he is mine and Nick's child.

The Wizard

Back in early college Nick decided he wanted to build his very own arcade game. So, being Nick, he did just that.  He named it The Wizard and it plays any original Nintendo games.  It's awesome.  Although, as sometimes happens when you get older and buy a tiny house, there was not room for The Wizard inside.  It got put in the garage, where we thought we might still play it some... along with the ping pong table and dart board we put out there.  But more time passed and the ping pong table and dart board disappeared and the garage slowly filled with other random things.  (Mostly wood from Nick's many other projects.)  But this weekend we made the decision to clean out the garage in order to prepare for a new addition, this time turning that garage space into a new home office with like, finished walls and lights and... you know, INSIDE stuff like heat.  We pulled out all the wood and random things that had accumulated over the last eleven years and... it was a lot of stuff.

SO. MUCH. STUFFFFF... how did it even all fit in there?!

Once the garage was mostly empty we looked at the dusty old Wizard.  We hadn't really thought about it for years beyond casual "remember The Wizard..." type discussions.  Nick asked if we should just get rid of it, but I said I was sure we could find room in the new office for it to have a forever indoor home.  He dusted it off and went to get Henry.

Yeah.  I think it has a forever home. He cannot WAIT to show his friends.