Blogging Intervention?

This one's for you, Maria... =)

Hee hee hee....

Window shopping for houses...

So Steve and I decided not to continue pursuing the house we'd been trying to buy. We got the inspection done, and there were just too many things that would need to be fixed very soon (and we aren't going to have a whole lot of cash on hand after the closing costs). The furnace and air conditioner were both about 30 years old, the water heater was all messed up (and moderately hazardous), there was a small gas leak in the crawl space, a thin spot in the roof, and the radon levels were something like 7 times what is normally called safe. But it was mostly all stuff we couldn't see on our own (thank goodness we have a good housing inspector!). I was a bit bummed out by it all, but it definitely was better to know now than to find out the day after we bought it, because all told, we may have been looking at an extra $10k or so in repairs in the first year.

So we're on to a new house now... one with brand new heating and cooling, a recent water heater and a newer roof. Hopefully that will alleviate some of the possibilities for repairs. It's quite a bit smaller than the first house, but the first house was probably a lot more space than we needed. I'm pretty antsy about getting out of our teensy apartment, so keep your fingers crossed. =)

Other than that... this semester is shaping up to be pretty ridiculous. I'm taking the hardest 3 classes I've ever had (plus tennis... but I'm just auditing that for fun) and then teaching Calc III recitation. YIKES! I'm actually just blogging to kill time until some of my profs come in to give me some hints on the homework that is due tomorrow. But I suppose it's still more fun than having a real grownup job... I mean, I do get a month off for Christmas and three for summer break! =)

I guess that's about it for me, but Steve is liking his job a whole lot better now. He got transferred to a group working on a new construction crane, so he actually gets to design stuff now instead of just fixing old helicopter drawings. He also decided (rather wisely, I think) not to pursue his MBA right now. He was just far too busy, and not interested in the material at all, to keep it up for the next 3-4 years.

As for Katie, she still nuts, but we love her. People and their pets... enough said... hee hee.

So I guess that's about it for now. I'm going to go try and find some profs, and keep hiding from the weather (it SNOWED here last night... my plans of moving south seem to have been foiled! Drat!). Stay warm out there.

It's been awhile...

So, it's been pointed out to me that I'm pretty delinquent in my blogging. I didn't realize, but it has been awhile. It's strange that when there's so much going on that I could be writing about, there's so much going on that I don't have time to write. So excuses aside, here is the much anticipated update:

I successfully finished my first semester of grad school (with a lot less freaking out than I usually do). I managed to get all A's, but before you all start with the "see, I told you so" business, you should know that these were not your average A's. First off, I worked my tail off for them. Those of you who know me, know that I'm the queen of procrastination, and not a big fan of spending lots of time on homework. Here, neither of those things will fly. The second thing you should know is that grading here is freaking voodoo. As an undergrad, I used to figure out exactly what I would need on the final to get each grade... here, as an example, I didn't get more than a 50% on the first 3/4 of the assignments in my algebra class, but I still got an A in the class. CRAZY!

Kate and I made it up to Muskegon for Christmas. Katie actually did really well on the car ride, and she had a blast in the snow. I also took her to DogStar Ranch. She LOVED it!


It was really great to get to see my friends and family - and I had a great Christmas. But I had to come home a bit early, because:

WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!

We've been working on it for a little while now. We found a house that we like:

And we even agreed to terms with the sellers. But since it's a pre-forclosure sale, we need to have their lenders agree to the terms too. And they agreed to all the terms except they want us to close on the house in 14 days! We tried to to get them to agree to at least 3 weeks, but they wouldn't. So now, we're going to try to close on the house, beginning to end, in 2 weeks! Hang on to your hats, everyone!!! Hopefully it'll work, because I REALLY like this house, and it's got a great backyard for Katie (once we fence it).

And that brings us to today... the first day of the new semester. I think my classes are going to be even tougher this semester than they were the last time around, but I'm sure I'll get through them just the same. And it helps that I'm not worried about getting B's anymore, because I know that even if I get a B, I'll have kicked butt to earn it! And there's no shame in that... I am a little nervous about teaching this semester, because I'm TA-ing Calc III, which I don't remember all that well. But on the bright side, we're using the Stewart Calculus book, which is the same book (although about 100 editions later) that I used when I learned Calc. I'm sure it will work out fine, and it'll look darn good on a resume someday.

So that's what's been going on. I hope you've all enjoyed the update. =)

What I did on my day off...

This is my cherry pie... darn thing looks like a photo in a cookbook (except where the cherries oozed out because I overfilled it and where the lattace is crooked because I kept breaking the pieces... hee hee). So today, I totally channeled Betty Crocker. I made the cherry pie and 12 mini loaves of banana bread. I vacuumed, did laundry and did the dishes. Whew! Is it time to go back to school yet? =)

Happy almost thanksgiving!

Cute Picture

Just wanted to share a cute picture of Steve, Katie and I at the orchard a few weeks ago. Steve ran in a 5K there to support the Humane Society, and Katie and I were supposed to do a 1 mile fun walk together, but it was running way behind schedule, so we didn't end up doing it. Anyhow, this is the first picture we have of the three of us together (thanks to the poor guy who was trying to take it... just like photographing a toddler!).

So not much else going on right now. Home a little early from school, so I think I'm going to try and sneak in a nap before the rest come home. Shhh... don't tell... =)

See... it's real!

Good morning! I don't have a whole lot of time to post this morning, as I'm supposed to be heading out the door soon. But I just had to share. For those who were at all curious what the mysterious "textbook" project I was working (a bit slavishly... hee hee) much of the summer, the details have finally been released. Which means, in short, that I can stop acting like I'm an international spy (though that was a fun bit of pretend) and tell you about it. Here's a link to a blog post by the author:

Teaching College Math Technology Blog: Activities for Algebra - Sample now available

Have a great day!

Empty Office Hours

Well, my students had a test on Monday night, which means none of them want to come into office hours today (actually, I had one very dedicated student who was trying to finish up next week's homework already, but she didn't have many questions). Thus I have an empty office hour. The perfect time to catch up on studying, homework, and class prep... or, more likely, to catch up on blogging and Turbo Solitaire. =)

So what's been going on lately? Let's see...

I have officially finished my first grad school midterm week (blech!) and I lived through it. Actually, I did fairly well on most of my tests. I know most of you will say "but of course you did... you always panic and then do well!" But this semester has been awfully different from any other semester I have ever had. I've been having some issues with my time management and not putting too much time into teaching. Also, since all I take/teach are math classes, the last thing I really want to do at the end of the day is math homework... so I've been having some motivation challenges, too. However, I've been assured by lots of people here that all of this is pretty common for a first year and I just need to get used to everything (and probably stop blogging when I could be doing homework, but that's another story). So anyhow, I got an A on my Linear Algebra midterm, an 82 (B I guess) on my Analysis midterm (after a 20 point curve... yikes!), and a 32/40 (A-B ish) on my Modern Algebra midterm. So I'm staying out of the forbidden C-zone thus far - I just hope I can keep it up.

In other news, tonight I'm going to test drive a 2007 Dodge Caliber. I already test drove a 2008 (which was orange - how fabulous is that!?!), but I had some issues with my salesperson at that dealership and decided to test the waters elsewhere (thank goodness for Mother Internet and her son Google). I ended up finding a better car (automatic, anti-lock breaks and a sunroof - though decidedly un-orange) in a 2007 (which is exactly the same as the 2008 incidentally), and the dealership was willing to give it to me for very nearly the same price as the first car I looked at. So I'm going to try it out and see if I like it! How exciting is that!?!? It is also kind of scary... I mean buying new cars is something that grown-ups do! Eek!

And Steve is being all grown-up too, and has been talking to the bank about mortgage possibilities. Honestly, this just doesn't seem like us! But it's kind of fun, too... and I'm definitely looking forward to having a house with a yard (instead of an itty bitty apartment with an un-itty bitty dog). =)

As for the dog, she's getting really good at sit and stay (at least in fairly controlled circumstances - not so much at the dog park), and is starting to learn "watch me" which I hope will help her focus more on walks and get less freaked out by other dogs and such. She doesn't quite get "leave it" yet; she just thinks I'm torturing her by not letting her go after the treat laying on the floor. But overall, she's come sooooo far since we first got her. You'd hardly even recognize her as the same dog. =)

Well, I guess that's about it (since my office hour is about over). Now it's off to the gym (God, I hope it's not an arms day... my arms are still killing me from the last time! My trainer is a tough one, but she encourages me to do things I never believed I could.)

Have a good weekend,
Meg