Life Goals: The Field Museum

So, since college (or: as long as I can now remember, because college was a long time ago) I've wanted to visit Chicago's Field Museum. Namely, because of the lions on view there, known as the Man-Eaters of Tsavo:

Did you ever see the movie in the 1990's starring Val Kilmer, called "The Ghost in the Darkness?" It was based on this true story. In the late 1890's, two mane-less lions (a kind of species found in some parts of the African bush) killed around 140 local tribesmen who were helping put down lines for a rail road (in a small village in Kenya). The circumstances were so extraordinary that they sparked (reinforced?) all kinds of demonic lore, and many workers refused to take part in the efforts until the lions were killed.

Another intriguing aspect of this true story is that the lions were actively hunting men, who are usually not on their menu. The story, including the very dangerous challenge of finding and killing them, is fascinating. The guy (I want to say a General?) who eventually hunted them down displayed their furs as rugs in his home until he grew old and sold them - along with the lion's skulls - to the Field Museum for the then-whopping sum of $5,000.

This picture includes the actual lion skulls (showing damage from gun shots) and furs, although these lions are smaller than the actual ones.

Anyhoo, for G and me, going to the Field Museum and seeing this exhibit = one of life's goals achieved. It was spectacular.

I would highly recommend any exhibit here, but we focused on the dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, their special China exhibit, and their special ancient Greek exhibit.

A few pics from our day:

Ancient cell phones. (JK - tools)

3D film about the Galapagos

Am currently sitting in the airport working on a paper due tomorrow. Crossing our fingers and hoping we beat the snow storm to Denver. Oh, the fun of flying.

More Chicago adventures to come soon! We heart Chicago!

Chicago!

Hello from the Windy City!

G was here for work and I decided to join him over the weekend. I've never been here before and so far I love it.

For obvious reasons.

Deep dish pizza from Giordanos! I got the first flight out of Denver yesterday (and did two hours of homework on the plane) so I was able to get here and meet up with G and be at the best pizza place in the world by noon. I don't mess around.

As G said, after eating this it's gonna be hard to go back to Papa John's.

We then burned off calories (not really) by meandering to the Willis Tower (formally the Sears Tower) and venturing out above the city.

Literally.

We went out on the glass ledges that extend four feet from the building. We were on the 103rd floor here. It was awesome.

The weather has been fantastic! Sunny and in the mid- to upper-forties! Can't complain about that, what with the coming blizzard that we're going to deal with when (if?) we get back to Denver.

This past week was a doozy for both of us, so when the afternoon rolled around I napped while G watched the Avengers (for the millionth time) in the hotel room. Glorious, glorious hotel naps. The only thing that got me out of bed was the thought of pub food.

We went all out and had hard cider.

Then went to the Palmer House Hilton downtown - home of the original brownie, created in (they told us) 1893. I do believe I will. Consider it historical research. Consider it tasty.

Then it was back to the room for a few hours of grading (sigh) before returning to glorious sleep. Not bad for Day 1! More tomorrow!

TGIF, people!

Photo bomb from the stock show.

Lucy Says Hi!

Just kidding. She doesn't say hi.

Lucy couldn't care less about me or you or this blog.

Life is great for her these days because no one is ever home. She doesn't have to, you know, socialize (read: put up with lovins and kisses on her nose).

Life is pretty crazy for the humans, though.

The good news is that there's really no time to eat. So the 3 pounds I gained over the holidays is slowly coming off.

The bad news is that there's really no time to sleep. And that realllllllly cramps my style.

I've decided that everything - the entirety of my life and all my meaningful endeavors - would be balanced perfectly if (1) I didn't have to grade, and (2) I didn't have to write papers. If I could eliminate those two things but keep everything else, BAM, done.

You interested in helping me out? How about a couple of King Sooper's coupons?

TGIF, people!

That's interesting.

But it is not the book I'm looking for.

Catching Up!

Lordy, what a week. It's 5:30 and I'm in my pj's with a load of laundry in the washer and the latest episode of Real Housewives of Whatever on in the background. But we need to catch up. Let's do this bullet point style.

* BOTH of my classes are great! At the beginning of the semester, I hope and pray for "normal" or "OK" or "fine" or, Lord help me, "not psycho." But my classes are great! I'm sure there will be some issues here and there (that's life) but already they are opening up and coming to see me after class and one student has already visited my office! I can do this.

I try to start the semester off on a stricter note than I eventually maintain. I'm still funny and enthusiastic and jokey, but I run a tight ship at first in the hopes that I won't have big discipline problems later. I try to be like this.

But the students laugh at me (which can be a good thing!) and it makes me feel like I look like this.

*After the chaos of last semester I worked very hard to arrange a day off. And that day is Friday. I'm a genius. Of course the day will usually be full of grading and prepping for class and doing my own reading/writing, but still.

*We had our first date night this week! We went to a real restaurant and paid good money for a good meal. There was wine and cheese and appetizers and desserts. I could get used to this. Even in the middle of a crazy week.

*The date night is a big goal of mine, and speaking of that, I haven't done many other things lately, goal-wise. The first couple of weeks of class are like that. The big goals are rolling along and I'm making progress, but remember the daily goals? One small change each day? Hahahahaha I haven't done that in like 10 days at this point. So, you know, that's gotta start up again soon. Like, tomorrow.

The best alcoholic coffee EVAHHH.

*I've watched two really good movies lately. Put these on your list immediately:

The Martian

The Spy

And that's all I got. I'm going to enjoy this weekend because from next week until May I'll be grading like a mofracker.

The First Day

I survived the first day of class! This week is typically pretty easy and I only have to work part-time at the writing consultant job, but hey, survival is survival. Next week is when it hits the fan.

I stood up in front of 25 students who looked at me like this:

Another sweetie from the Stock Show.

25 more stares like that tomorrow.

So far so good.

Kicking Off (pun!) Winter in Denver

When I first moved to Denver (in my old career) one of the guys I worked with told me that the way to kick off the winter season is to go to the National Western Stock Show. I was like, it's not, you know, skiing? No, it's not.

The Stock Show is an enormous event, lasting about 16 days and bringing thousands of people to Denver for expos, farming business, rodeos, and networking. We go for the animals, the people-watching (hey! People are watching us, too! It works both ways.), and the rodeo.

Why, yes. I come for the people watching.

One of our favorite booths to visit is the bird rescue one. They tell you all about their birds and let you look at them for as long as you want. (<-- it occurs to me that that sounds creepy. We're not bird stalking or anything. They're just really pretty and kind of hypnotizing.)

Yesterday we learned why our national emblem is called the "bald" eagle. The early American (English) word for someone with white hair was bald. So, it's not that they didn't think the eagle had any feathers on its head, it's that they were totally white. It was completely white-headed, so it was called "bald."

We roamed around and looked at all kinds of farming equipment, animals, educational booths, expo booths, furniture, food (!), jewelry, art work, etc.

Look at the snow tracks. This thing was listed for almost $24,000.

 

Then we went to the rodeo!

It occurs to me that, to someone who is unfamiliar with farming or with rodeo culture in general (is that a thing? Rodeo culture?), it can look like a bunch of people who are exploiting animals (at best) and treating them unethically and cruelly (at worst). In my experience, that is not the case at all. My papa had a farm and rode horses and trained (broke) wild horses as a side business and hobby. Because of that, I grew up quite literally under foot and got very used to these big animals and their personalities. We use the term "work horse" for a reason; historically, people and horses have worked really well together not only to accomplish tasks but to form important bonds and survive together.

To see cowboys riding a bucking bronco or bull can be quite a shock but the animal is just fine. Perhaps mildly annoyed. But they have all the power and leverage, and they know it.

Look closely at the picture below. See the guy flying through the air? Yeah, didn't even make it out of the gate. The bull just looked around like, are we done here?

Until next year!

TGIF, people!

The End (+ Book)

I haven't posted lately because I've been too busy skulking around the house and whining that my holiday break is coming to an end. The past few days have included errands and check ups and lots and lots of copies for the first weeks of class.

I'm not the only one whining. Loo Loo Bean has been on a "devil may care" cage schedule which basically means that she's had full run of the living room for days on end because I've mostly been around. She couldn't believe it when I actually closed her in last night. See the look on her face? We call this picture, "The Captive."

Today my writing consultant job starts up. <<sigh>> I was complaining to telling G that it's not that I dread going back to work; I really don't. I just dread the intellectual endurance it takes. My brain has turned to mush and all I'm capable of talking about is The Real Housewives of Fill-in-the-blank.

But! I managed to finish one last book (Rapper L, I owe you an email about this one):

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I wish I could take a class on the Bronte sisters. While Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) is still my favorite, Jane Eyre is much more accessible and easy to understand. Also? I feel a little weird even talking about this book because I think I'm the only person in the world who hadn't read it until recently?

Anyway. The plot is about an orphan who survives the horrors of a "charity" school system and becomes, at the age of 18, a governess for a rich family. There are weird sounds coming from the attic and hushed conversations behind her back and unexplained fires around the house. In the meantime, she is falling in love with the master, Mr. Rochester. Imagine her surprise when, on their wedding day, she finds out that he's married to a lunatic who lives in the attic.

Yeah.

I like the darkness of the Brontes. I also like the psychological realism, which is one of the note-worthy aspects of the novel. Here we have a woman who gives us access to her interior space as she thinks through difficult situations. We also have a woman who says what is on her mind despite outrageous opposition from, well, just about everyone she encounters. Jane has a moral core and self-confidence and thinks through problems to arrive at reasoned conclusions.

I'd like to study this book in order to see what Bronte is doing with Christianity because it's everywhere. But alas, that will have to wait until the summer. If, on the odd chance, you haven't already read this book, it's a good one! Be prepared for a long read, but that's what the winter is for.

Small Changes (Tried and True Goal-Setting Methods)

You know I'm all about goal-setting. There is something attractive to me about continually working toward improvement in its many different forms (spiritual, physical, emotional, educational, domestic goddesshood, etc.). I've had a couple of conversations lately that have brought my goal-setting systems to mind and I thought I'd share a bit about them here. New Year New You and all that.

(From The New Yorker Jan 11, 2016)

What I'm doing now: DAILY

Every day in 2016 I'm setting a small goal for myself. Every day. In the past, I've done weekly goals (see next point) but my days and weeks are so different at this stage of the professional game, that I don't want to hold myself to the same goal every day, seven days in a row. Instead, I'll tweak my goals for each day. This might sound over-the-top-high-maintenance, but it's not because I'm talking about small changes. Their significance will come over the weeks and months as they add up.

Mostly, these changes are physical: related directly to eating or exercise. For example, when I visited Gama, my goals on the days I flew were not to sit in the airport. At all. Now, I usually try to take direct flights so that I don't have to deal with layovers, but that wasn't possible this time. So, during my layover(s), I resolved to either walk or stand. I mostly walked, but on the way back, I worked on teaching stuff for next semester and before I knew it, I had been standing for two hours and it was time to board. How much healthier that was than sitting and sipping wine, which, let's be honest, is what I wanted to do.

You see a lot of...interesting things while walking in the airport.

Other daily goals so far have included walking to various appointments rather than driving. Today's goal is to do a series of ab exercises. I have no idea (yet) what tomorrow's goal will be. I look forward to this "system" because each day is new and fresh and different. My goals are small enough, and tweaked enough for that day, to be doable. At the same time they are large enough, and focused enough (again, these goals contribute to either diet or exercise) that over time they will keep me healthy and - hopefully - make me even healthier.

What I've done in the past: WEEKLY

In the past few years I have set weekly goals. This was a good system for me when I had a more 9-5 type of professional routine, and these goals were all over the map rather than strictly health-related. What I liked about these goals is that they often turned into habits. For example, I would increase my daily water intake for one week and in that time I would discover that it was easily something I could do every day for ever and ever, so I did.

Foam rolling: a weekly goal that became a daily habit

These weekly goals helped me to branch out and truly prioritize the areas of my life that weren't work-related. I had to get up and go to work every day. But I didn't have to do anything else. Often times this meant I would go home and veg out in front of the TV and - again, over time - that's not the person I want to be, and that's not the life I want to live. So, I would try different things like not eating out that week, or making sure to call one family member each week, or getting up early for quiet time, or not spending any money unnecessarily, or downloading one new song, or memorizing one new verse, or sending a friend a card, etc.

This weekly system helped me to realize a lot of things I didn't want to do, simply because I tried them out for a week and could say "eh" (from personal experience) and move on to the next thing. However, at least I was trying! Each week was new and different; I would sit down on Sunday and review the past week as well as reflect on the coming week. If I wanted to set the same goal for multiple weeks, I would.

**I have to stress that what was so effective to me about this system was that many, many goals turned into habits and, in that process, contributed a lot to me living my life - each day - the way I want to.

What I've done forever: MONTHLY

I'm a big fan of monthly goals. Many of these are seasonal, and that's OK with me because life is seasonal. In my experience - and this is a big duh statement - goals are more achievable when they're realistic. And, in my experience, I'm much more likely to do things when I actually name them as goals and write them down - or, as is the case, type them into my phone. So, monthly goals hold me accountable to have fun and branch out every 30 days.

You guys know most of these already because they end up as posts! Every fall we do a brunch. Every winter we go to the Denver Stock Show. Every summer we go hiking. Every winter we make improvements inside the house. These things are simple but it's important to note that they get planned and scheduled and discussed and tweaked so that they don't get passed by and overlooked and missed. These fun things are every bit as scheduled as my work is and I take them just as seriously.

In my phone notes, I have the months listed and I keep a "living" list of to-do's, some of which, like I've mentioned, are fun. However, this list mostly includes administrative (adult) stuff and reminders of things to do each month that will make the next month more manageable. For example, January always includes making a tax appointment - not necessarily within January, but getting it scheduled for sometime soon. This ensures that sometime in February the taxes will be done and that sometime in March we'll be hung out to dry but by summer time we'll have our finances in order to take a vacation. Tried and true system. January affects June. In a good way.

This monthly admin stuff includes flushing out the sprinklers in the fall, opening them back up in the spring, setting up yard service in the summer, arranging oil changes and registration for the cars, dr. appts, dentist appts, vet appts, visits to family, work trips, fun trips, when to change the house air filters, when to adjust our heater thermostat, etc. You get the idea. I never have to worry about being organized, because I've used this system for so long. I know that I'm getting my bike serviced in April so that I can ride it to work starting in May. It's already on the list. I know that I'm riding my bike to work all next summer and fall because - wait for it! - that was a weekly goal I set in the past that transformed into a more permanent way of life.


What I've also done forever: YEARLY

For me, these goals are the biggest and the fewest. These are the more typical New Year's Resolutions or whatever, the large goals I want to keep in the forefront of my mind for the year. These goals are listed in the notes part of my phone, right above the monthly ones. One of my 2016 goals is to have a date night every week. G and I have already scheduled it and it's just as non-negotiable as going to work. I already look forward to going to a restaurant, sipping wine, and savoring a meal while we sit and talk, face-to-face, in the middle of the week!

My big goals also include Lit Society, taking a big trip, some spiritual goals, scheduling more trips to see Gama, and really, really, really trying to get together with my bro.

Rovinj, Croatia

TAKE IT WHEN YOU CAN GET IT (OR: CARPE DIEM)

This is more of a life philosophy than a goal, per se, but it bears mentioning. When life hands me an opportunity, I grab it! I do not pass go and I do not collect $200. I act first and ask questions later.

My motto for every. single. paper.

I'm not talking about stupid, spontaneous decisions. I'm talking about recognizing - in that moment - that God is absolutely handing you something cool, and deciding to take it.

Some examples of this are presenting at the conference in Salt Lake City (that opportunity randomly arose one day at work), moving to Denver (!) from Virginia, a trip we have planned for later this month, and who knows?

Who knows what will be handed to us this year?!

(P.S. Please remind me of this optimism when I'm buried under school work and complaining 24/7.)

What works for you?