I can't believe that a month has passed since I last posted here. Actually, I can believe it...so much going on that renders blogging a very low priority. A brief summary of my time since Orientation would include, but not be limited to, boatloads of paling around with the boys, getting ready for the school year (the boys and mine), starting the school year (the boys and mine), and making adjustments to the new school year. Pretty all-encompassing.
During the last two weeks of summer, I held my second annual Camp Mom. The boys and I had a great time running around the Cities. Highlights included comic books splurges at The Source and movies (G.I. Joe and Robert Rodriguez's comic gem Shorts), but also
enjoying a picnic with friends
Juicy Lucy baskets at Groveland Tap
skateboarding at Merriam Park
backflipping at the RenFest
learning how to play golf (he has a great backswing, even though he grips the club like a baseball bat...all in time)
swimming at Cascade Bay, which has come to define summerI love outdoor waterparks. I'm a sucker for swimming pools, but swimming pools with slides...heaven. The boys aren't great swimmers, but they can do the crawl, even if it sometimes looks like they're drowning. And, they can float and tread water in 6 feet so, for the first time ever, I let them swim on their own while I parked it on a lounge chair to work on my tan and read a book. Cascade Bay has a lifeguard stationed every few feet, so why not get out of the way and let them do their job? A long day at the pool was the perfect—and time honored—way to end the summer.
The boys seem to be adjusting well to their new teachers and classrooms. Both have at least one friend in their class and are happy about that. When John and I accompanied the boys to the Open House, we both had great first impressions of their teachers and shared their enthusiasm for a great school year.
I have had a reasonably good start to the school year, too. I was only late for one class on my first day, all because—nightmare come true—I walked in on the wrong classroom. Getting to campus has been a bit of a chore. Normally I would take Cretin north to University, then jog west to Raymond, which I could drive all the way to campus. The commute would only take about 20 minutes. On my first day of class, I was detoured from Cretin to Cleveland, along with every other person who lives south of St. Clair and who takes Cretin to get to I-94. Which is A LOT of people. I took me 20 minutes just to get to Raymond, only to find out that the road is closed at Energy Park, so I had to detour east, all the way to Snelling!! At that moment, school felt very isolated and difficult to get to. Every day, I'd try a new route until I settled on the best one. I'm not trying to shave time, just trying to avoid sitting in traffic and driving miles out of my way. Now take River Road, exiting on Marshall east. On Marshall, I rejoin Cretin to 94 to 280, exiting at Como, where I grab the detour to Larpenteur, which takes me to Gortner and the ramp where I park. Seems convoluted, but I fly because the path is less frequently traveled.
I realize I'm rambling on about my commuting woes, which isn't very interesting but consumed a major part of my waking hours last week. The rest of my time was spent scrambling to finish projects and papers. This week was only my first full week of school, but I handed in two mounted projects in my interior design studio—so far, I haven't missed a point!—as well as a (draft) paper in Design Thinking. Plus, I asked for my first extension for a very involved first project in Foundations: Color, an intense theory class, where I've mounted two pieces that will go into a portfolio and written two papers. Or will write two papers. Over the weekend. Twenty years ago, when I attended a small midwestern liberal college, the model for teaching was to have students read texts, listen to lectures, crank out a few papers, and take a final exam. Now, at an enormous land-grant university, I am working in small groups and churning out projects and it's a huge shift for me. And it will be fine and I will get good at it, especially if I continue to take pointers from Simon and Winston, who are fully engaged in project-based learning.
My world and routines have changed dramatically in the past few weeks. I miss knitting and cooking (I have class two nights a week) and reading and seeing friends. And spending quality time with my family. I miss staying connected to my online communities, through facebook and forums and my blogs. I miss writing about goofy things and writing just for the sake of expression. I do not, however, miss the creative loafing that became my life over the past 18 months. I am so grateful to be on a path that feels right, even if it's a very long path.
Blogging feels a little decadent right now—this session has been a pure delight—but I will try to get back here as often as I can.
