Walked 3.2 mi on route 'Rose Bowl', in 58 mins 6 secs (pace: 18 mins 9 secs) using shoes New Balance.

My daughter's elementary school has a carnival every year on the Saturday before Halloween. Somehow she always talks me into being a Room Rep, and every year I do the Class Basket.

This year's theme for our basket was "Pets are People, Too". Many parents donated some really cute items. Items which got brought home Wednesday.

Let the FUN begin!

First, let me introduce the feline members of our family.

K.C.	Toby
Simon

.

Everything was fine until I went out to lunch with a friend on Thursday. That's when the trouble began.

Simon and Toby smelled something YUMMY in the box of donated items. Something that must be investigated. So they did. Out came the bag of Canine Carrys Treats. A slash of the claw and voila! The treats were available for consumption. Next up: The catnip . . .

So I come home to two very pleased kitties with treats in their mouths and catnip in their fur. Grrrrrr

I didn't have the time to go replace the items. But the basket had to be assembled and taken to the school by 2:30 pm. In went everything else. Simon, rested from his "hunt", decided to "help" me with the celophane wrapping. I'd cut a strip, he'd pounce on it. I finally cut a piece off just for him. But no. This was not acceptable. He wanted the piece on the basket. I finally gave up and kick him out of the house.

Two hours later I had finished the basket and delivered it to the school. Exhausted from their endevours, Simon and Toby took a nap.

We were supposed to go camping at Montana de Oro State Park. We left later than we wanted, and the trip too longer than anticipated (6 hours instead of 4), so we arrived at Montana de Oro State Park at dusk.  Most State Parks have a check in place that's somewhat obivious.  Not this one.  Trying to find our campsite was a challenge with two cranky kids, two cranky adults, poor maps and failing light.  We drove around for a while on the only road in and out of the park before concluding that this leeetle pullout with a #4 sign on it was indeed our campsite.

I had made the reservation months in advance, for environmental site #4.  An environmental campsite is bare-bones, and usually involves walking a short distance to the campsite.  So.  We got out of the car and headed up this dirt road at sunset.  And walked.  And walked.  And walked - for 15 minutes.  There was no way we were going to lug all of our gear and watch two kids in the dark.  Maybe in the daylight, but not at dusk. The distance from the car to the campsite was NOT clear when I made the reservation, but is now listed on the Reserve America website as having a 1/2 mile hike to the campsite.  Time for "Plan B".

Our trusty GPS informed us that there were several hotels/motels/bed and breakfasts in Morro Bay.  We chose  the Best Western San Marcos Inn in Morro Bay and "camped" there. Our room was nice, clean, and reasonable ($99/night for the four of us).  The kids slept in their sleeping bags and Robert and I got the bed.  Pretty much all of the hotels/motels/bed and breakfasts in Morro Bay are located next to one another, and are three blocks or so from the shore.  The last time we took the kids to a hotel was the Holiday Inn in Redding, where they have room service.  The first thing Julia asked when she woke up the first morning was "so, when can we order room service?".  Then I had to explain why the Best Western didn't have room service . . .

Day 1:
After having breakfast in our hotel room (hey!  we brought all that food for camping - we had to do something with it!), we headed out to check out the sites.  First up:  Morro Rock.  I explained to Ben and Julia that Morro Rock was an extinct volcano, which they thought was too cool.  We walked around the rock to this nice beach where people were learning how to surf.  it makes sence when you think about it - you have to learn how before you can - but, I must admit, I'd never really thought about it before.  it was kinda cool to watch.  Ben and Julia had a blast playing in the water.


Lunchtime!  We walked along the shopping district and had a yummy lunch at a small fish n' chips stand.  We continued walking, stopping at the local Chamber of Commerce, where we bought two kites for the kids.  Julia and Ben got a kick out of all the "dock cats".  I assume that they actually belong to someone, as most had collars. 

I had wanted to go to the Morro Bay Aquarium.   We found it after a bit of searching.  It's located behind the gift shop.  Litterally.  The cost it $2 for adults, $0.50 for kids (Ben was free).  For $0.50 you could get a bag of fish to feed the seals.  I bought two - one per kid.  The entrance to the Aquarium is behind the registers in the gift shop.  The first "room" is the seal tanks.  There are three tanks about the size of my bathroom, two of which contained one seal each.  A sign above each tank listed the name of the seal, the gender, and age.  The first seal was quiet but happy to play and catch all the fish tossed to her.  The second was a bit more vocal.  She whined - there's really no other word for it - until someone tossed her a fish.  And she was LOUD!  Julia put her fingers in her ears and Ben wanted to leave.  So we entered into the aquarium propper, hoping the noice level would diminish.  The Morro Bay Aquarium has got to be the saddest aquarium I have even been to. It was small, with drab, small tanks that contained depressed-looking fish. My house is bigger than this aquarium, and I don't have a large house!  And yes, we could STILL hear the seal inside.  Was it worth the cost?  Sort of.  I would charge a bit more and at least have some money to clean the tanks once in a while.



We next went to Moonstone Beach in Cambria (no moonstone there, darn it) and flew kites for the rest of the day.  A couple got married on the beach while we were there, too.  I'd like to think our kite flying added to the romance . . .


Tired, we headed back to the hotel room to eat dinner, make s'mores and sleep!

Day two:
The Best Western San Marcos Inn may not have room service, but they did have a "buffet" breakfast of danishes, bagels, ceral, and fruit in the lobby.  Not impressive by adult standards but the kids thought it was GREAT!  After we checked out we went to the Morro Bay Natural History Museum, which was very nice.  Also very inexpensive - I think $5 got us all in.  They had very professional exhibits on local wildlife, ecologic issues, and the environment, all geared towards children.  There was also a nice trail up a small hill that had fantastic views of the area.

Next we drove to Montana de Oro State Beach before heading home. We stopped at this little pizza place in Los Osos for pizza, got some muchies from the Ralph's next door, and headed to the beach for a picnic.  The pizza was FANTASTIC!   The kids had a great time playing in the surf for a while. Then it was time to head home.

President Obama requested $7 billion, an 16% increase, in funds to the National Science Foundation. Why is this important and why should you support it? Major issues of the day include global warming, oil/gas prices, and the economy in general. We cannot detail the hows and whys of the global warming "crisis" (it's only a crisis to us - the planet itself doesn't care), search for additional current energy OR alternative energy sources or monitor and mitigate natural hazards adequately without science.

Most of my students when asked have said that they do not like science. The reasons why are complex, but include society's perception of people who like science in general and scientists specifically as "geeks" or "nerds" - not popular, "I-want-to-be-like-them" people society admires. Google the phrase "what I want to be when I grow up". When I did so and clicked on the links listed on the first page, the answers included "a fun job", "He-Man", "I want to do something spectacular", "be like my mommy", "an artist", "Astronaut, a Welsh Shepherd or Dr. William Barnes", "jockey, racing thoroughbred horses", "to improve the world", and "a cloud". The scientist in me cringes at the thought of even considering that this list is remotely an accurate picture of what people really think. I simply looked at the links listed on a web page. To my surprise, most of these were links to somewhat philosophical musings (especially the last one, where the cloud is more of a metaphor). The point is that, when asked that question, most people will respond with what I call the "popular" jobs - fireman, artist, dancer, journalist, etc. Not that these aren't worthwhile jobs. They are. But, with the exception of "doctor" or "vet", most scientist jobs aren't on the list. My daughter wants to be either a ballet teacher, a swim teacher, or a teacher (I think there's a trend there). Note "scientist" is not on the list. And this is from a kid who likes science.

So most people, in my opinion, are not science friendly. It's not that they hate science. They're just not real fond of it. Most of my students are in my classes because they have to be in order to graduate. Given their druthers, they'd not take a single science or math class in the course of their pursuit of college degree. Alas, the university or college makes them. Thus their tushies in my lectures. When people find out I'm a geologist they say one of two things: Cool! and You must be smart! Well, I like to think that I am smart (my IQ says I am but my grades tell another story), and I do think geology is cool, but neither statement is true for all geologist. It is merely the perception people have of us science types that leads them to those opinions.

Yet science is what is making our world possible. Try reading this blog without the science to create the computer, the network, etc. Or watching TV. Or forecasting the weather. Etc., etc., etc. It's everywhere, lurking quietly in the background while everything else takes center stage.

Support science. Contact your US Representative and Senator and encourage them to support President Obama's budget for science. Also contact Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to tell him how disappointed you are that he considers volcano monitoring questionable, especially in light of what Hurricane Katrina did to his state.

And what did I want to be when I grew up. A scientist, complete with white lab coat and beakers. Or Mark Spitz's wife.

 

Mt. Shasta, November 1998

Ok.  The great white brick is a 1998 Jeep Cherokee, not a truck, and the SUV itself is not stuck, but rather the back hatch is.  Stuck closed.

I got the Jeep in 1998 mostly to do field work.  It spent the first 4 years of it's life mostly on dirt fills of construction sites.  Fortunately I had purchased the model with the "Upcountry suspension package" which consisted of a 1/2 inch lift (oooooh) and a skid plate under the car, amongst other features.  That skid plate has saved my butt, or at least the delicate underthings of my car, many times. 

The Jeep also seems to be a rear-end magnet.  As in "Oh, look, a Jeep!  I must hit it from behind!".  This has happened at least 5 times, all of which I have been stopped at a traffic light for a while. 

Anyhoo, all that abuse has taken a toll on the Jeep.  The screws holding the skid plate loosened and had to be retightened using threadlock, the CD player works - sometimes,  the forward/backward seat adjustment on the driver's side is broken, and one of the lighter outlets doesn't work.  And now the back hatch won't open.  Couldn't be from all that rear-ending.  Noooooo.

The Jeep Cherokee supposedly seats five.  And it does - so long as the people in the back are either short or are children.  And getting in and out of those back doors is a joke.  My kids - ages 3 and 6 - have a hard time getting in through them.  So imagine having to transport the following WITHOUT having access to the back of the car: 

• 1 adult + purse + laptop bag
• 1 adult + laptop bag
• 1 kid + backpack + toys
• 1 kid + backpack + toys

There just ain't enough room in the passenger portion of the Jeep.  Grocery shopping has gotten interesting.

So.  How does one open the back of a stuck hatch without going to the dealer?  I did a Goolge search on "jeep cherokee hatch" and the first hit was "Jeep Cherokee/Rear Hatch Won't open - Wikibooks, collection of" (click link to go to the site).  Low and behold, it actually contained useful information.  Information which will have to wait to be tried as this weeked Robert is going to Oregon and Julia has a dress rehersal, a tea, and a ballet to perform in.  NOT the time to be tearing apart my car.  So it will have to wait - stuck shut - until next weekend.

Firsts:  First set of holidays/birthdays/life without my mother and grandmother.  My mother had passed away from cancer in Sept. 2007, so 2008 without her was not unexpected.  Life threw me a curveball - as it is wont to do - with the sudden passing of my grandmother in January 2008. My grandmother was living with us throughout 2007, and I was very close to her.  Her death was very hard on me.  So all of the "firsts" without my mother became firsts without both of them.  Quite the double whammy.

Lasts:  About six months after my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, my father-in-law was also diagnosed with lung cancer.  The scientist in me found it interesting to see how each progressed differently in each person.  Christmas was a bittersweet time - we headed up to Oregon to spend it with my in-laws (see Dec. 26th, 2008 entry).  Bob clearly wasn't doing well, and was back in the hospital within a week of our leaving.  Robert C. Dash, professor of Political Science at Willamette University (http://www.willamette.edu/%7Erdash/), passed away on January 27th, 2008.  A year to the day after my grandmother.  So 2008 turned out to be a year of lasts - last events with Bob. 

Hyacinths were my grandmother's favorite flowers.  After my mother died, my best friend gave me a yellow rose bush (my mother's favorite flowers) and my grandmother some hyacinths for us to plant in the garden to remember her.  Shortly after my granmother died, the hyacinths began to bloom.  They began to poke out of the ground upon our return from Oregon just before New Years, and began to bloom when Bob died.  Hyacinths will forever remind me of both of them, of death, and of life.

These are some of the last photos taken of my mom, grandmother, and father-in-law with the kids.  Amazing how I have a zillion photos of my kids, but few of the adults in their lives. 

R-L:  Me, Ben, Julia, Mary Jane, and Barbara, taken at the Black Bear Inn in Beaverton, Oregon, December 2006.  This photo was taken just before my grandmother came down to California to live with us.  It was the last time my mother and grandmother saw each other alive.	R-L:  Bob, Ben, Irma and Julia, taken at Portland International Airport March 2006.  We had flown up during my Spring break from CSULA to visit my mom after her cancer diagnosis.  Bob had just started his chemo treatments.  Bob is also rather camera shy - we have very few photos of him at all, much less with the kids (or anyone else).

 

Some days it just really doesn't pay to get out of bed. 

Last week our neighbor's wife died, and the funeral was yesterday.  As it had been nearly a year since my grandmother's death, and over a year since my mother's, I thought I would be ok.

Wrong.

I was crying before I even entered the chapel at Rose Hills, Whittier.  I held on through the service, which was lovely & funny, except for the pastor at the end of the service who depressed everyone with readings about death, original sin, how we're all screwed (OK, my paraphrasing) and that our only hope is to turn to Jesus and be saved.  Great - if you're Christian.  I'm going to assume most people - including me - there were Christian, but sheesh.  Why call it a celebration if you plan to depress everyone?

I did not stay for the graveside service.  Instead, I indulged in chocolate and music therapy on the way to pick up my son from pre-school.  Serotonin levels enhanced, I was feeling pretty good about life again.  On the way to pick up my daughter from her after school program my BFF & I made tentative plans to go out to eat after the kids finished their homework and before her kids had soccer practice.  Then, since Robert had a meeting to go to, I thought we'd have a family movie night, complete with popcorn and hot cocoa.

Julia typically does her homework in the afterschool program, but not today!  She had left her homework assignment at home.  Again.  So she had nearly an hour to finish her homework - write five sentences five words or more in lenth using her spelling words.  Normally she can crank this assignment out in 20 minutes, tops.  Not today.  Oh, no.  She took 45 minutes to write one sentance that did not contain any of her spelling words.  The window for going out to dinner was now closed.  When Julia found out we were not going out to dinner she threw the mother of all temper tantrums.  Forty-five minutes of wailing, sobbing, crying, and fist-pounding in her room (to which she had stomped to dramatically at the begining of it all).  She stopped just when I was getting worried that she was going to make herself sick if she continued.  She apologized and asked if she could have dinner and then finish her homework.

Dinner consumed, she began on her homework.  Again.  One hour later she had finished four sentences, three of which did not have a single one of her spelling words in it.  She wailed.  She cried.  So the drama!

Ben, meanwhile, had finished his dinner, tried to go potty in the toilet (nada), got in his pajamas, and was happily trying to watch his shows with his sister carrying on.

Sniff.  "I need help!"  wailed Julia.  "I can't think of what to write!"  I told her when she had rewriten the one sentence that was correct on a new sheet of paper I would help her think of what else to write.

More wailing.  More crying.  More drama.

Thirty minutes later she had FINALLY rewritten the one sentence.

Now she was tired.  So I told her she could go to bed and turn in the one sentence tomorrow.  After all, it was 8:30 PM, her bedtime.

MORE wailing.  MORE crying.  MORE drama.

Ben said he had a poopy diaper (he didn't).  I changed his diaper, got him into bed and read him a story.  "Mama, don't leave.  Stay with me."  Poor Ben pretty much played on his own all evening while I dealt with his sister. 

"Mama, I want to do my homework"  sniff.

One day I'm going to figure out how to be in two places at the same time.

So I ping-ponged back and forth between Ben's room and Julia in the dining room, reading stories to one, helping the other write sentences.  Just when Ben fell asleep Julia announced that she had to do a book report, too.  Now, this was NOT on the homework list, but it was a part of the packet the teacher handed out at the begining of the week.  Not sure if it needed to be done or not, we got a book, Julia read it, then did her report.  All in 20 minutes.  It's amazing what she can do when she sets her mind to it.  It's not that the work is difficult for her.  She just didn't want to do it.

So.  Instead of having a nice evening with my friend and family, I got a headache.  No dinner out.  No movie night.  No popcorn.  No hot cocoa.  No mom or grandma to comiserate with.

Some days just suck worse than others.

2009 is not going so good.  On New Year's Eve our neighbor's wife passed away suddenly.  This was followed by the death of the husband of one of the teachers at Ben's preschool around the same time.  And my father in law was back in the hospital for the New Year.  Argh!

The good news is that my sister-in-law went into labor the other day, so our nephew should be arriving soon.  Finally some good news!

UPDATE:  Nicholas was born on 1/4/09 at 6 am, 20 inches and 7 lbs 12 oz!

And it's time to go home.

Wednesday - Christmas Eve - Irma, Julia and I drove up to Portland to see the Oregon Ballet Theater's production of "the Nutcracker".  This will be the ninth production Julia has seen - five in person, and four on TV.  She is a Nutcracker expert.  The drive to Portland (depending on where you are going) takes about a hour.  This time, with all the rain and snow, it took us just under two hours.  The production was just ok.  I'm not sure what the problem was, other than it just seemed kinda blah.  The drive home was just as bad. 

While we were gone it rained a bit in Salem, melting the snowman and some of the snow on the ground.  This made for easier driving (yay!) but Julia was bummed about the snowman.

Christmas dawned cold and drizzly.  Julia got a WowWee Alive Panda Cub, a book, a puzzle, and a puffy pink jacket;  Ben got  some GeoTraks train stuff, and a book, a puzzle, too.  Julia was upset that she didn't get that many presents until she realized that she would be getting more once we returned home.  The rest of Christmas Day was a low key event.  Robert's sister and her husband were going to join us, but pre-term labor prevented them from driving down from Seattle.

It seemed a bit weird to not go and visit my Mom or Grandmother.  I was mostly okay with it unitl it was time to leave.  Bob was in a lot of pain and clearly not doing well, and Irma and I had a nice crying jag before we left.

The drive home was uneventful.  It rained from Salem to just north of Sacremento and then clear skies the rest of the way home. 

The cats, as usual, ignored the fact that we were gone for a week and carried on if nothing had happened.

Day two in Oregon, and the snow has finally stopped falling.  We bundled everyone up and headed out to play in the snow!  Ben pooped out after a half an hour, but Julia kept going for another hour.



Robert wanted to get the kids a sled.  What could we not find?  A sled.  Not because the stores had sold out of them, but because the stores didn't carry them.  Seems Salem isn't in a "snow" area . . .

Tomorrow Irma, Julia and I are going to see "The Nutcracker" up in Portland.  More on that later.

And now, for your moment of Zen -

to Grandmother's house we go!

On Saturday we left sunny So Cal and headed north to Salem, Oregon in a spiffy silver 2008 Mazda 6 loaded with clothes, presents, two children and two adults.  And why not take the Great White Brick (aka my Jeep Cherokee)?.  Alas, the heater on the Jeep decided to fail just before we left.  As the high up in Salem was 30 degrees the day we left we decided a heater wasn't just a nice feature, but a necessity. 

We left later than desired - but isn't that normal for a trip?  Our trip through the San Joaquin Valley was uneventful.  The  kids were nestled snug in the backseat with a case fully of their favorite DVDs and a DVD player.  Twelve hours of driving is tiring on anyone, but the kids were real troopers.  The plan was to stop in Redding for the night.  However, our late start meant that we weren't going to get to Redding until 10 pm at the earliest - a bit late to eat there.  We instead stopped in Sacramento and ate at an El Torito.  Not quite the meal at our favorite Chevy's in Redding, but tasty. 

At 10:30 pm we finally pulled into the Holiday Inn in Redding for a well-deserved night's rest.  The Holiday Inn was nice, quite and clean.  The entrance to all of rooms we inside the hotel - a nice touch when the weather is poor - but required one to open three doors just to get inside to your room.  Not so nice while trying to carry a sleepy child!  Still, the TV was pre-set to the Disney Channel, and there was two packages of hot cocoa in addition to the coffee and tea near the coffee pot.  Small but nice touches.

Sunday dawned nice and drizzly.  We ordered room service (they had a kids menu) which Julia got a kick out of before heading north for more driving.



The drizzle gave way to snow in Shasta then cleared up in Weed (yes, there is a town in CA called Weed) and stayed nice all the way through the Siskiyou Pass.  We even saw a rainbow in Yreka.


The Siskiyou Pass proved uneventful as well.  There was snow on the ground, and it was cold outside (35 degrees F) but clear, blue skies.  In fact, the drive through Oregon was great with only light rain until we entered the city limits of Salem.  Then the roads got icy and snowy, many trucks had stopped to put on chains, and the top speed on the freeway was 30 mph.  It took us 30 minutes to drive the 10 miles through Salem to Keizer and grandma's house.  But we got there, safe and sound, around dinner time.

So, here we are, safe and sound in snowy Keizer, OR.  We got around 2 - 3 inches of snow yesterday, and we should get another inch or so today.  Sing it with me, folks!  I'm dreaming of a white Christmas . . .



   

So, what did YOU do for Thanksgiving?  We stepped outside of the dinning room this time and went CAMPING!

Ok.  I use the term "camping" rather loosely here.  Two of the husband's cousins have RVs, complete with bathrooms, ovens, microwaves and fridges.  They also brought a flat screen TV and the Wii system.  Thus, we (or, more correctly, our daughter) didn't suffer much.  The campground was at Vail Lake Resort and was really nice.  Lots of hiking trails, horses for riding (with reasonable rates), a miniature golf course - lots to do.  While we still like the more primitive - read, tent and more traditional camping - camping, this wasn't so bad.  AND we had a lot of fun!

 

Ok.  A day late.  But fall has officially arrived and it still feels like summer.  Typical for Los Angeles, though.

I though I'd post an update on my classes.  The class at Cypress was indeed cancelled.  While the money would have been nice, the 1 1/2 hour drive there (in traffic) and the 45 minute drive home (at 9:30 pm) was not.  What does kind of annoy me is the fact that I spent many hours this summer - hours that could have been spent preparing for other classes or with my daughter - were more or less wasted on prepping for the Cypress class.  Oh, well.

The Oceanography classes at PCC are going well.  The students had their first activity a week ago.  My only requirement on attendance is that their little tushies MUST be there on activity or exam days.  Otherwise they have to have a valid (and provable) excuse for missing that day.  This was mentioned to them at every class session.  Sure enough, four students weren't there for unknown reasons and wondered why I wouldn't let them make it up.  Sigh.

Classes at CSULA just started, so there is not much to tell there.

It's very frustrating sometimes.  I realize that our K-12 teachers are doing the best that they can with limited resources.  But I have many students - over half some semesters - that simply shouldn't have graduated from high school let alone be in college.  They don't follow directions, can't write a simple essay paper, and goodness forbid I ask them anything other than a multiple choice question on an exam.  They simply don't know how to think for themselves - they only know how to regurgitate back the answers they memorized from the textbook or lecture notes.  Grrrrrr.

I don't know the answer to how best to solve the education problem.  I just try to educate the students who come through my classes in the best way that I can.

Want to see what we look like?  Check us out http://pics.livejournal.com/geophile/!

Reason #3


Reason #2


And finally, Reason #1


'Nuff said.

My friend, Valerie, and I decided to take our girls to the "new" Getty museum.  I call it the "new" one because the original Getty in Malibu, CA, will always be "The Getty" to me.

ANYWAY, taking three girls, ages six, seven and nine, to the Getty Center yielded mixed results.  First, the Institute is beautiful, full of amazing architecture, open spaces, and gardens.  The art is housed in several buildings.  On one hand this is nice, as it makes the setting more intimate.  On the other, one must leave one building to go to another, resulting in a case of  "now, which building have we already seen?"  They have a Family Room, which is composed of five "rooms" about the size of a bathroom with different activities in each.  The staff allows only a set number of children in at a time (20, I think) so it doesn't get too crowded.  One room has a replica of an antique bed (located in another building).  Now, you put a child in a room with a bed, what do you think that child is going to do?  Jump on it, right?

Guess what the staff in the Family Room told the kids not to do?  Sheesh.

Another fun activity for children is the sketching room.  Children are given a large sheet of paper and some pencils and they can try to copy anything they like using the paintings in the room as inspiration.
 

Our biggest complaint, however, was with the staff.  We ALL know that "no touching" is the operative phrase when it comes to museums.  However, whenever one of us peered a little too closely at an object (while staying behind the lines) we would be reprimanded.  Apparently children are to stand even further back from the art than adults are.  I can respect the Getty (and other museums) desire to maintain the safety of the art, but why allow children in a museum if they are going to be constantly told to stay away?  Our children were behaving about the same as other children, but we seemed to be picked on more than others.

What happens to naughty little girls at the Getty - They get turned into statues!

We took them to the gift shop, where my darling daughter spent the entire time listening to classical music CDs available for purchase in the store via headphones.  She chose "Renoir:  Romantic Dance Classics From The Age Of Impressionism".  Then listened to the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus in the car on the way home.


Julia on the balcony of the third floor, West Building, looking at the 405 FWY and the westside.


Julia in the Gardens


The Gardens - my fav.


The three muses - Kristyn, Kaitlyn, and Julia

So, Tuesday was the start of my Natural Disasters class at Cypress College. I'm not looking forward to the drive (30 miles or so each way) but it should be interesting teaching there. Pasadena City College starts in two weeks, followed by CSULA two weeks after that. Fun, fun, fun!

You'd think that after six years of teaching the first-day-back-butterflies would go away. But they don't. Still, I wouldn't be teaching if I wasn't having fun. Mostly it is - except for all of that grading!