Update: another year, plus health and wellness

Life continues to be rich and full here in Enoughsville.  This is my birthday week; I have been telling friends that I am excited about this because I've never been 56 before, and now I am.  And also: do you know how many famous people have been 56?!?

For my birthday, my guy brought me chocolate in bed this morning (which is, like, 56 times better than breakfast in bed)!  Also, one of my students performed a concert on my birthday (not because it was my birthday, but I could pretend); he played his own compositions on the piano, and had other musicians play his orchestral compositions, and he conducted a group who was performing Strauss pieces. There were only about a dozen people in the audience, mostly sitting in the back, and I sat up close and center, so it was like he was performing a concert just for me. A lovely gift, really.

A bunch of my running buddies ran a half marathon in D.C. today, kind of in honor of my birthday (but kind of, just to run a half marathon).  They also have never been 56 before, and are not likely to be 56 for a decade or more yet, so I am looking forward to telling them what it's all like.  I did a much shorter run (a 4-ish mile run) with the runners who didn't go to D.C.; it's a run that ends with a set of four stairs, and I always start singing the Rocky Theme song as we get close to the end, and I make everyone throw their hands in the air after we make it up (four stairs), and we feel triumphant.  

Prewash is not feeling triumphant.  This photo of her makes it look a bit like she's in a jail cell; she's not.  She was in the vet's examining room, because the indigestion pills aren't curing whatever it is that's ailing her, so she got to get the full spa treatment at the vet that's conveniently a half a block from our house.  She is not particularly fond of the wobbly table, and the light in the eyes is annoying, and the funnel in the ears is to be resisted, and the thermometer in the rectu--OH Heck, NO!.  Well, we didn't do the thermometer, let's just say.  

She did get her blood taken, and her fluids analyzed, and a pair of x-rays, and our best guess right now is "bladder infection".  We are waiting/hoping for the miracle of modern antibiotics to kick in and do their magic/science.   More updates next week.  

On the topic of health and illness, it was two years ago that we were reading news articles about the importance of good hand washing and of Not Touching Your Face (combined with lots of descriptions of how we all Touch our Faces all-the-heck-time anyway).   I know the hand washing emphasis has faded in deference to other ways of mitigating disease spread, but I just want to say that the Scary Doorknob is still reminding people who enter my home about manual spread of germs.  I've grown quite fond of Scary Doorknob, actually.  I am also very, VERY happy that the mortality rate in my city has dropped to near zero in recent weeks.

OfSnough is working safety from a different angle.  He's been volunteering with Ukraine relief efforts.  Today he worked with a small group (8 Ukrainians and 2 bicyclists, he says) to assemble 1000 first aid kits to send eastward.  Tomorrow,  he'll head to a rally at the Lincoln Memorial.  He'll be a day late to do the half Marathon, but I hope that in the long slog, his efforts will lead to a good finish anyway.   

My college is off spring break, and I'm back in full swing in terms of deaning.  I am starting, finally, to feel like I actually know a bit of what I'm doing.  It is good to feel like I can be effective.

And that's the news from my little corner of the world, where we continue to be rich in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.

Enough weather for spring break

Here in Enoughsville, life was rich while being only moderately full this week.   Ahhh, spring break!  

"Spring" is a bit of an over-simplification, though; we've had the Whitman's Sampler of Weather this week.   Sleet and rain?  Check, last Saturday.  Snow?  Check, perfect for stomping on our way to the dog park on Sunday.  Fog so think that my phone issued me weather alerts?  Check; Thursday morning.  Jacket weather, inviting outdoor walks with friends?  Yuppers; Tuesday.   Wind advisory?  Sunny days with temps reaching 80?  Rain?  yes, yes, and yes. What a week.

Monday, Pi Day, was a day perfect for taking advantage of spring break.  It was a staff holiday on my campus for reasons I'm not entirely sure of (aside from the fact that π is indeed very cool).  I desanguinated in the morning, sharing my vital fluids with someone who needs them more than I.  Then I got to give a Zoom talk at [yeeps!] Pixar.   Can I say that again?  I gave a talk at Pixar!  I had to sign an agreement saying that I understood that ideas I shared might appear in their movies, and that I wouldn't disclose any ideas I heard them talking about.   Since my talk was entirely by zoom, and it was basically me talking about my favorite math, I didn't actually hear what they are working on now but I wouldn't tell you even if I had.  If the next Pixar movie just happens to revolve around projective geometry theorems, well, now you know the source of that inspiration.  [She nods modestly.]

Um, yeah. So after I gave a talk via zoom at [did I mention this?] Pixar, I made dinner for a bunch of students who are doing volunteer work on our campus.  That was super fun, too, especially because they asked me what I'd done earlier in the day, . . .

. . . and they were the kind of students who actually geeked out a bit on math, so I got to talk about projective geometry yet again, this time in front of a live group who kept asking me questions.  It was a fabulous, fabulous day.

The home next door seems to be condemned.   By this, I don't mean the home that people live in; I'm talking about the home that the bald-faced hornets constructed last summer. 

The layers that they built up, bit-by-bit, seem to be peeling away.  I'm finding this truly fascinating. 

Will they rebuild the current structure, repairing the parts that are flapping off?  Will they build a new home nearby?  Will they just abandon the site, leaving last year's home to disintegrate as I look out my bathroom window?  I am definitely keeping an eye on what happens.  

Prewash, always a dog inclined to a life of relaxation, has been even more relaxed than usual.  Early in the week, I was puzzled whether this was just my imagination or what.  By later in the week, it was becoming apparent that her appetite was dwindling and her energy level was likewise ebbing.  It's not like I'm an alarmist or anything, so I responded calmly by having the most moderate of nightmares about deadly dog diseases.   Fortunately, we live exactly 0.75 blocks away from an awesome vet.  The diagnosis is "indigestion"; she's now taking an over-the-counter antacid medication, and pepping up accordingly -- as much as Prewash does "pep", that is.  She has had effusive naps, and also spent about an hour as porch ambassador, greeting passers by to tell them all "you are a wonderful human being, and you deserve to be loved."  Her appetite is still iffy, so we'll keep a watch on this.

Nelson got to go to a performance; it wasn't about projective geometry, alas, but he seemed to enjoy it nonetheless.

Toby Mac concert with Sizzling, Kevin and some friends

And OfSnough continues to be active in protests and marches.   

I know other people say the same, but it's so hard to reconcile the horrors happening elsewhere in the world with the delights happening in our own little corner.   We've upped our contributions to disaster relief and international health organizations, of course.  For me, I've taken extra time to be mindfully grateful for what I do have, including geeky students, calm dogs, wonderful offspring, and a devoted spouse.  And did I mention that I gave a zoom talk at Pixar?

And that's the news from our family, which continues to be wealthy in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.

Cheery news update

Life continues to be rich and full here in Enoughsville, with all kinds of cheery news rolling my way.

Sock madness has started, to Inkling's delight.  After last week's whirlwind tour of many Broadway shows, she came home to a local high school production of Wizard of Oz, where she happened to get to meet with a Broadway celebrity here on our own turf.  Inkling says, "Guess what!?! I met Jonathan Groff tonight! And he held my sock for a photo "

And more, because she knows I'm not exactly up-to-date on the celebrity scene: "Fyi Mama, he played the king in the original cast of Hamilton. (Plus a bunch of other tv/movie roles.)"

Me:  "I can see why he'd be in so many shows. He's got a lot of socks appeal."

Another awesome visitor to our home town is our native son, Nelson.  He got to meet up with friends and hang out with family for a few days.  On Thursday night, per his request, we had waffles for dinner (plus muffins, including some "I spotted a bear" chocolate-chip-teddy-bear-shaped muffins).  And then we went to the theater to see an amazing performance of Sound of Music. 

And then . . . sigh . . . Nelson went back to Minnesota.  It was so good to have him here, that I admit I was a tiny bit weepy on Friday, due to the combo of lack of sleep and missing my kiddo.  However, I'm gladdened that in MN he's got a loving sister to dote on him, who can show off her new vehicle:

2022 Triumph Tiger 900 Adventure Bike

I almost wrote, "who can show off her new baby", but Sizzling introduced the photo by saying, "Not a baby but...new bike...who dis".  And the reason she introduced it that way is because, a day or so before, we'd gotten this . . . 

Kinderling:  

"So, because A-child already spilled the beans unintentionally and completely randomly....

Everyone has been having the BEST and AMAZING news recently, and I'm loving all of it!!! <3

Here is our exciting news <3

We are still early on, so I wanted to wait a little but.... in case we all see A-child again "

Me:  "I'm going to be a Nanana!

Okay, now my friends and I are having debates about this. Is it pronounced like "Nana" with another "na": NAna-na", or like "banana": "naNAna"? Very important discussions happening here in the dean's office!"

At work, things have been . . . not light, but definitely a much more comfortable pace, probably because we're on the verge of our spring break.  I'm always grateful for the chance to pause mid-semester, even though the pause never quite feels as substantial as we expect it will feel.   It's a chance to catch up (a bit), and to pivot (a bit). 

And as for pivoting, two years ago on March 10, our college president sent out a note to all of campus saying that because of news of the spread of Covid-19, the college would be prohibiting travel.  This sent us into a tizzy: our students were planning to submit talks for a math conference: what if those talks got accepted, but it left a hole in the conference schedule?  (Oh, how little we knew!).

The next day, we got a follow-up note from the administration, saying that, "First, we should not overreact."  And then, that our classes were going to be "conducted online or via other alternative modes through at least April 3".   Little did I know then that I wouldn't step into a physical classroom containing actual physical students for more than a year from that announcement.

This year, almost exactly two years to the day later, our campus has declared that after spring break we will be mask-optional and also "mask-friendly".  (This latter means that we are to carry a mask with us at all times, and that we are expected to obligingly put it on if someone else in the room requests it).    When we come back from break, it's likely to be the first time in two years that I'll be in the same room with my students' faces.  I'm very much looking forward to it.

And that's the news from our family, which has lots of good news rolling in, with more good stuff to look forward to.   May you and yours stay safe.  

More than enough photos, in this update

Life continues to be rich and full here in Enoughsville.  I'm particularly rich in photos this week, partly because Nelson returned to the East Coast from far-off places.  He, OfSnough, and Inkling have headed off to New York City, and they have been sending us so, so many pictures.  How many?  SO many.  I've actually tried to gather most (but not all) of the pictures into clumps.  

Inkling got to see four Broadway shows!   Her socks came to at least one of them.

Nelson got to see so many stores!  And he bought shoes!  (Takes after his dad!)

And then Inkling and Nelson got together in front of a show, AND inside a store, one with socks.  

Nelson and OfSnough send about a gazillion pictures of views from the Staten Island Ferry and from inside a museum with planes and scary objects (the Intrepid Museum).

Inkling sent pictures of views from the street: a sculpture that looks like knitting, 
and some superheroes.  

Regarding that superhero, a vigorous back-and-forth conversation ensued.  

Inkling: "(I said no )"

Sizzling:  "Disliked “(I said no )”"

Nelson:  "Imma pray for you Sizz"

Inkling: "He doesn't know my name! That's no basis for a relationship "

Sizzling: "Batmobile!"

Inkling: "I saw no evidence of the batmobile "

Sizzling: "Oh then pass "

Gosling: "You guys are funny"

Gosling had her own fabulous adventures.  She was on TV; there's a great (4-minute) interview with her here, about the book she wrote about Amelia the dog, and about adopting older dogs.  You can see her tripod dog gamely bopping along in the background.

And in the "awww, so cute" category of the week, take a gander at this:

Backstory, from Kinderling: 

A-child chose her vocabulary word for tomorrow to be bioluminescent... so she wanted to be a bioluminescent jellyfish.  

I'm not disappointed

I didn't take any pictures this week, myself alas.  (Anyone want a picture of email triage?  Hmm . . . maybe it's a good thing I didn't take pictures).   But with or without pictures, Prewash and I got to have fun together on campus midweek; my campus had a "Day Of Giving", with (because of the initials for that day) a Dog show.  She showed off her many tricks admirably, but the popularity vote nonetheless went to a pair of tiny poodles in pink leather jackets.  The organizer wrote me, "I'm so happy you participated! If it were up to me, Prewash would have won. Such great tricks and so well trained!!"   Fortunately, I have to say, she's taking the loss pretty well, and doesn't seem discouraged at all.  

I've also had a few snippets of text message from Jason (who says, "I'm glad [Nelson]'s come home to see you and ik I have to come see you I've been missing you mom ").  And I've had some WhatsApp chats with Xavier, in Haiti, who tells me things are bad but God is in control.  Honestly, I can't imagine.  

I guess, all-in-all, I feel like I've had a week that is in one way very much all-by-myself, but in another way very much surrounded by my kids whom I love very much.  And that's the news from our family, which continues to be rich in photos and texts.  May you and yours be similarly prosperous.