Brace yourself...

Just a few weeks of school left. I wonder at time, how it can move so slowly yet fly so quickly. This morning feels like ages ago yet last month feels like yesterday.

Now is the time to prepare projects, presentations and final notes. I have two presentations coming up this week. The Spanish presentation is on Tuesday. Profesora M. announced the presentation days today. No surprise that the Thursday slots were filled by the time it reached our table. I have no clue what to present with my partner. It's only five minutes but I would like to be prepared. My upper division writing class has us presenting our public policy papers over the next few weeks. I was asked to go on Wednesday since my paper is pretty much done.

My linguistics project stalled back around spring break when I was still juggling other projects and that one seemed safe to drop. Well, I've picked it back up and now I'm scared. This should be fun though. I have to chose a non-native English speaker and analyze their speech patterns. Of course I tend to write phonemicly in British English while speaking like an American. Maybe I watch a little too much British tv/movies... maybe... ;)

I think there's more projects coming too. I have something due for California History but I think it's almost complete since I've been working on pieces since the beginning of the semester. I have an interview with la profesora for Spanish in two weeks? Maybe? I have one traditional essay style final but that's about it.

This is more of a "to do" list than a blog post but it's the best I can do right now. If anything, this will help explain my silence over the next few days (weeks). :P There are moments where I wish for a more "normal" life that isn't filled with periods of high stress, big projects, expectations and lots of people. But that is life. Even before I started University, those elements were a part of my life. Now, they're just magnified, condensed and I have less control. So like a bird, I adjust to the change in pressure and try to ride the currents. I may not move forward but I'm still in the air. I'm flying!

Week in review

Freedom. It's a wonderful feeling. I was tied to my computer for about a week trying desperately to finish my papers in time. I saw way too many 1 am mornings for my liking. The historical literature review was due on Friday. The public policy outline was due Tuesday morning. Both made it in on time and pretty much complete. The outline was ~ 19 pages without the reference pages before I double spaced it. I think it was the longest document I've completed but I still have to put it into paragraph form and present my policy to the class. I'm taking eighteen units, all upper division. I didn't think that 18 units would be that much different than 17 units last semester but I was wrong. I was so panicky last Tuesday and Wednesday trying to get started on the papers. I honestly don't know how it all was finished. It was a definite God thing. I appreciated the prayers of family and friends; thank you.

My history class last night was let out early with instructions to spend a half hour outside. I took my reading for the week and sat out behind the library. There's an odd dichotomy behind the library of nature and progress. We don't have a lot of manicured lawn here because of burrowing creatures. The main quad, the campus center and behind the library are the few places with lawn. I sat on the edge of the manicured landscape looking out into the meadow and realized there is a beautiful view. Clouds rolled overhead, yet I could see sunlight in the distance behind them.

Sometimes being on campus is a bit like the Wild America tapes we used to watch when I was little. Spotting a coyote hunting behind the greenhouses, watching hawks hunt, finding a frog during an Easter egg hunt, cottontail rabbits hopping across your path. I never know what to expect.

Two posts in one! Garden/Kids

Stir fry mix bouquet

Garden Update: After most of the lettuce and stir fry mix went to seed, I used the flowers in a bouquet. Then I pulled everything out. :) Some of the lettuce in the barrels had trouble with root rot. I wasn't watering but between the rain and too few holes in the bottom the soil was staying too wet. The peas were long gone.

The remains of the vines and my "water catchment system" ;) I used it to water and dumped the remains as I had my own mosquito farm starting.

I supplemented for a phosphorus deficiency since the vines looked like the pictures I found online. The symptoms however read like a nitrogen deficiency. I supplemented that and kept the tops of two vines alive (life support). But they succumbed as well. Not sure what went wrong. And yes, I was careful not to overdo the supplements.

Composted rabbit manure and a couple worms from home.

I'm guessing my understanding of the nitrogen cycle is lacking, the heavy rain and the plants being pot bound all contributed. I'm just not sure why it started in the big pots and then affected the smaller ones... More research! All this to say, my beds are basically barren. I've planted seeds but nothing is up yet.

This bed has some swiss chard coming up.

This one has a couple surviving lettuce plants and has been planted with more.

Special Mint

One of my friends D. likes to garden and has her yard on campus done up as a kitchen garden.

I offered her some of my seeds and she brought me mint that she brought back from France. It traveled to two of my classes which sparked a lot of conversations. Most people thought it was a strawberry plant. As we were talking about gardens, my professor, Dr. W., got really excited as he's just starting one so I brought him some seeds and we've been sharing garden ideas and recipes.

The mint was in partial shade so finding a spot on my south (slightly east facing) balcony was a challenge. It's pretty happy here on the back side of the tub so it only gets morning sun.

Post Two:

Kids are awesome.

I've been working with a class of second graders twice a week for about 5 weeks now. Last semester I was at the same school working with 4th graders. I've encountered a couple of the kids outside of class or school and they've come up and given me hugs! Sweet, but worrisome since their parents don't know me!


April 1st.
B.: "Your hair is pretty"
Me: "Thanks"
B.: "April Fools!" :D He got me good!

During a flower dissection, A.: "I want to be a garden scientist!" Me: "Someone who studies plants is a botanist. Someone who is a garden scientist is a horticulturist." A. "Well, I want to study plant disease." Me: "Well, in that case you would be a plant pathologist." I love it when kids get excited about learning.

I worked with the reading groups today. Our class has about 28 kids in it. During the standardized test preparation, we bump up to about 30. We break into 3 groups based on proficiency levels so the two groups that I had contained 11-12 kids. I'm basically handed the material and I get to go for it.

D. and Y. are the two that worry me. D. is adorable but he's not "present". He's in his own little world and nothing seems to motivate him or excite him. He's been tested for learning disabilities and will be getting some additional help. Y., on the other hand, gets super excited, bounces around and blurts out answers. He's incredibly smart. He seems to pick up concepts quickly and is able to apply them outside of the context in which they are given. He's just one of those kids that I would hate to see crushed because of his behavior.