Fall Y'all Bloggy Give-away!!

UPDATE: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES. I'LL DECIDE THE WINNERS LATER TODAY AND E-MAIL THEM!

There is a massive bloggy give-away going on and I thought that I would get in on it!


FIRST OFF: PLEASE ENTER YOUR E-MAIL IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOG LINK... otherwise I'll have no way of contacting you!

I am giving away some home-made Christmas ornaments. I love making these kits, but the truth you can only have so many of one kind of ornament. They are nothing to fancy (Styrofoam, glue, pins and sequins), but some people really like the looks of them. I have three acorns, two gold balls and two silver balls. They can come as a lot set (or if you really only want one type specify).

All you have to do is leave a comment saying that you'd like to be entered (and if you have a preference, enter that as well!). I'll leave the contest open until Saturday morning (November 3) and will then draw a random winner! And don't worry, I'll cover shipping!

Also, please enter your e-mail address! For whatever reason blogger is not letting me see people's e-mail addresses...

Good luck (and enjoy looking through the other Bloggy Giveaways if you haven't already!).

Babies!

The biggest news around here yesterday was this. Sarah is having a girl!

And in honor of my future niece, I thought I would post pictures of my babies that I took today. I actually took all three of the pictures below at exactly the same time of day.





It was obviously nap time.

Isabel was snoozing on the rug in front of the back door... in the sun beam!

Clementine in the sunbeam on the rug in the kitchen!

Tater was sacked out on the sofa... no spoiled pets here!

Cinderella Update

The week is done... and that means only four more weeks until Cinderella is in tech and the costumes must be done!

This week started out slow but moved into a very productive slant towards the end. We have Cinderella's under-rag dress done and her over-rag dress is more than halfway done. The lining of the Fairy Godmother cape has been sewn together. The fairy godmother dance costume has been cut out. All of the bodices for the evil step-family have been mocked up, fitted and re-mocked up (they should be in again on Monday for a final fitting before we cut real fabric).

All of the wigs have been ordered. Some of the shoes have been ordered. The rental forms have been filled out but not yet sent in (I tried today and the fax machine doesn't like me... I'll try again Monday morning on a new fax machine). Replacement parts have been ordered for one of our sewing machines so that hopefully we'll be up and running by the middle of next week on all three of our machines (though the little one doesn't like to switch back and forth between zigzag and straight stitching... so sometimes it just doesn't!).

All in all I feel good where we are. By the end of next week I would like to have Fairy Godmother completely finished, the bodices fitted, and both of the Cinderella ballgowns well on their way to completion. I would also like to have at least a few of the evil stepfamilies' dresses cut out (if not beginning to sew on them). Ambitious, but I think it's doable. I am really proud of most of my work-study ladies. For not having sewing skills when they started they have really stepped up to the plate and are working at learning. Wish us all luck!

Four Day Weekend

Don't we all wish every weekend could be a four day weekend? This past week was fall break, which means that we had no classes on Thursday or Friday. And boy did I need it! I spent all most all day Thursday in the costume shop, Friday cleaning the entire house (we had fallen way behind) and a good portion of yesterday in the costume shop. I now have all of the bodices mocked up for fittings and a few garments cut out, which makes me feel pretty good about where we are. Today is going to be class planning. In other words, I had four days off but have actually done work every day! Go figure.

On Friday we had two other faculty and spouse couples over for dinner and some game playing, which was a lot of fun. I don't have huge amounts in common with any of them but I think they'll all be good to hang out with (movies, drinks, etc). In preparation for people visiting, I decorated the little shelves in our entry way for fall. I was rather proud of how it turned out (considering I did it in about ten minutes and wasn't able to find any decorating wire, string, etc). Here is a picture:

This morning I started volunteering at the cat portion of the San Luis Valley Animal Welfare Society. They have a cat adoption room on Main Street. I am going to go in on Sunday mornings and clean litter boxes, give them more food and water and mainly just pet and socialize them. There are certainly a few who have already one over my heart (namely Fuzzy, who is aptly named though he really should be named Cuddles as he wanted to be constantly held! And Grumpy, who is poorly named as he too wanted nothing more than to be held and to sit on your lap). I have wanted to volunteer with an animal rescue group for awhile and I figured now is as good a time as any. Also, part of my retention at school is based on service (which is both service to the school and service to the community). So, I thought volunteering wouldn't look bad on that front either.

And lastly as I sit and write this I'm watching the first snow of the season. No one expects it to stick and it's fluttering more than snowing... but I have to admit it's pretty (cold but pretty).

They Don't Teach You...

I think the hardest part of the transition between being a graduate student and being a professor is the autonomy that the switch provides. As a graduate student (and indeed in all of the positions that I have held thus far in my working life), there has always been the requirement of asking permission. You ask permission to write about a certain topic. You ask for permission to teach a class and then are required to submit syllabi for approval and to constantly check in to make sure that you are "doing it correctly." While in graduate school you spend all of your time defending your beliefs, asserting your theories and all the while asking for permission to have them!

I find myself still seeking the permission of those around me. I have not been able to accept, thus far, that I am a colleague, a peer, of those around me. I keep expecting to have to justify my actions and my choices and am constantly surprised when no one asks for my "excuses."

I'm sure over time it will go away, as I myself become more confident in the decisions I am making. I don't know that there is any way that they can teach this change in perspectives while still in school... but I sure wish they had!

Pictures

Here are pictures of some of our adventures!


This is Sarah and Mom at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge (the bridge is behind me as I take this picture). These are the mountains around Taos.

This is the three of us and Tater at the Sand Dunes this afternoon (thanks Reid for taking the picture!).

As we were leaving the Sand Dune National Park, we passed a herd of seven deer who were more than willing to stand and pose for pictures! Really beautiful!

Sorry....

Sorry it's been such a long time blogging. Last week my mother and then my sister arrived and we have been busy enjoying ourselves since then! I am working hard at work trying to plan for our Wednesday material shopping trip for Cinderella.

This weekend has been full of fun. On Friday I came home from work, packed and we headed to Taos where we spent the night. Then on Saturday morning we got up and went to the Taos Sheep and Wool Festival. I was very controlled and only bought two skeins of yarn to make a shawl... Sarah and Mom spent a bit more but they bought some really pretty stuff!

And today we are still lounging about today. We have talked about getting dressed and going out to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We'll see if that happens.

On Wednesday mom and I will drive Sarah to the airport in Denver and go shopping for fabric... that's all the farther that we've planned. I'll try and update at least once this week, but know that even if I don't, I'm thinking about all of you (my six blog readers!).