The Life I Was Meant To Be Living

In the midst of a busy semester, I usually whine to G that this was not the life I was meant to live. Getting up super early in the morning to prep for the day? No. Needy students for a minimum of 15 weeks? Mmm no. Grading and writing and lesson prepping and responding to snarky emails and presenting and conducting workshops? Not really, no.

But. This? This is the life I was meant to be living. Yesterday we drove around Napa Valley (in the crazy rain - lots of roads are closed) and went to a tasting at Em's favorite vineyard, V. Sattui.

We got to do the tasting for free because Em has brought so many friends and family here! It was amazing! A nice break from the rain. We chatted and drank and drank and chatted and then perused the goods. I ended up buying (in addition to wine, duh) a couple of bottles of dipping sauce that I think G will really like. One flavor is garlic parmesan and the other is roasted red pepper. It's the gift that keeps on giving. :)

My favorite wines that we tasted were the Sauv Blank and the Cab Sauv. I bought a bottle of Gamay Rouge, though, a fairly light and sweet red table wine. When the man poured it he said, "This is your hot tub wine," and we just chuckled and gave each other a look. But as we were taking the first sip, he said, "This makes the perfect Sangria," and that got me. It was fruity and light and refreshing without being overly sweet. Twist my arm. Sangria at my place this summer! You're invited!

Today, we're on our way to spend some time in San Francisco before I have to go to the airport. Before real life (palm swiping across forehead) begins (swan dive into the abyss).

(Last) Breath of Fresh Air

Hello from California!

Remember my friend Em, with whom I hiked all last summer? Well, she thought it would be fun to get married and move to CA. I disagreed but I guess I didn't get a vote because here she is.

It's a wee bit windy here.

Today we planned to go to Muir Woods and the main entrance (though not the park itself) was closed. So our one-hour drive turned into two as we drove wayyyyy out of our way along the coast and around to the other main road that leads to the monument. Not a bad view, though.

It was foggy and cool, which is the perfect weather for a stroll in the ancient woods. I think this is the first (only?) stroll we've ever been on, since we usually hike 10 miles straight uphill at a sprinter's pace until I just about collapse from an aneurysm. It was downright relaxing today, though, not to mention picturesque.

Pictures don't do it justice, but here are a few. The reason I'm in so many of them is to provide scale. Without a (sizable) person in the frame, it's hard to realize how big and tall the trees really are!

I mean, could you die or what? G and I were here in 2009 (during that trip we got to spend a lot of time in both Berkeley and San Francisco, which was really awesome) but I couldn't pass up the chance to spend a day here this time around. Because we went during the week, and because schools have started, there weren't many people around. It was possible to enjoy the silence and stop and listen to the rushing water. It was so remarkable. I would love to spend more time in these incredible forests.

After our stroll, we warmed up with lunch at their on-site restaurant. I had tomato soup alongside a cheddar and scallion scone. Then I may or may not have perused the gift shop for perhaps a coffee mug and a T-shirt. One must do what one must do when in the redwoods. That's all I'm sayin.

I worked my patootie off on the plane here (lesson prepped like a mo'fracker) and plan to do the same on the way back (this was my mode during the Gama/Arkansas trip, too). My writing consultant job starts up later this week (ahem, supervising, kill me now) and the semester will be in full swing next week. Not a syllabus has been printed. Nothing has been posted online (my goal for the courses this time around). Lord help me.

((But tonight? Tonight is sushi. Then ice cream. Then a movie. Then reading myself to sleep. Then playing tourist again all day tomorrow. IN NAPA VALLEY! I've never been! I'll get to visit THE SOURCE of life's many blessings...))

Enjoying my last breath of air before going under again, folks.

TGIF, people!

Only in the south...

Who Knew?

Hello from Denver! Who knew I would actually be back home today?? I never would have guessed in a million years that, with all the snow around here, my flight would be on time. But it was! So, just like that (not really), I am home sweet home.

Lucy missed me so much that as I type this she is laying on my lap cuddling with me.

Bazinga.

In the past two days - in addition to chauffeuring Gam around - I have made plans to visit her again in the spring semester then G and I just planned a big birthday bash for her in the spring as well. I think it's safe to say that 2017 is shaping up to be The Year of Arkansas. This was not intentional but you only live once and all that. There is only one Gama anyways.

I have another fun trip (NOT TO ARKANSAS) planned before school starts and therefore the Netflix binging has come to an end and the frantic lesson planning is in full swing.

I really don't know why I change things up so much every semester. All I can say is that I really do think each semester is better than the last. Forward progress and all that. But it makes for a lot of work on the front end. And the middle end. And the end...end.

Check out the Caesar salad I had for lunch. That's Catfish, or as I call it, Arkansan sushi.

I had this on the Denver end of the trip a few days ago but I'm including it here because no trip of mine is complete without the superfluous Bloody Mary shot. You're welcome.

OK, I'll give you all my King Soopers coupons if you'll finish my school crap for me. Thanks.

A Day in the Life With Gam

Hello from Arkansas! Where the moisture seeped into my body even as the plane was landing yesterday. My hair is frizzing from here to there but I'll take it simply because I don't go through a bottle of lotion a day here. My face looks less reptilian. I wouldn't want this level of humidity all the time but for a few days? Thumbs up.

It's not Denver...but it's not bad. :)

Gama and I have been busy catching up. Today has brought to mind how much my personality is...crafted, shall we say, by this woman. Here's a peek into our time together.

I stay at a hotel just down the road from her house because - it's a long story - that's just the easiest thing to do. So, when she left last night, we made plans to meet up at 8:00 this morning. I got up at 5:00 (yes, 5:00) in order to work on lesson planning stuff for next semester, and at SIX THIRTY she called me from downstairs in the lobby. As in, here. As in, ready to go. As in an hour and a half early. I made her come up to the room while I changed from my pj's into real clothes, and we were out the door by 7:00.

In other words, we left a full hour before we were even scheduled to meet.

Very, very tired at breakfast.

For the blog's 2.5 faithful readers, all of whom know me personally, you've probably noticed I'm usually on time. Like, everywhere. Like, really on time. I don't remember anyone explicitly teaching me to be this way, but I spent a good portion of my developmental years with my grandparents and they were never late. They were where they said they would be, when they said they would be there. This was not only out of respect for other peoples' time, but also I think this was one of the many ways that they were honest. They meant what they said when they made plans.

Consequently, even to this day, if I arrive just on schedule, I feel late. Like, late to the point of feeling anxious and rushed and discombobulated. I only feel "right" (Lord, help me) if I'm somewhere a few minutes early. I blame Gama and Papa 100% for this neurotic behavior that is entirely out of place in my own generation.

After breakfast, we drove all over the state running errands, and then visited her sister for a few hours. Gama would kill me dead if she knew I had taken these pictures, but isn't she beautiful? She's a very good listener. And she's a very interactive communicator. She'll nod and "mm hmm" and "oh, really?" right along with whatever you're saying.

I may or may not have inherited her hand gestures.

Again, she would skin me alive if she knew her picture was plastered on the internet. And if she knew what the internet was. This picture explains why my front-row students sometimes dodge when I'm teaching. I can get a little...over active when I talk. Their eyes widen and they lean back a bit when I really get into paragraph organization or analytical strategies. Whatever.

In the afternoon we ran more errands and went to visit more people. I was basically a glorified chauffeur. I would drive and she would point here and there to places she wanted to "stop by" and we'd hang her handicapped tag in the rental and park right up front, which is totes something I could get used to by the way.

We got back to my room around 5:00 tonight and I flung myself down on the bed while she munched on the complimentary cookies. A lot of our conversations go like this:

Gam: Remember Willy Gibbs?

Me: Blank stare.

Gam: You know, Colveeta's husband? Ran the feed store back in '75?

Me: That was before I was born.

Gam: But remember him, though? The Skaggs' farmer boy who trained that horse and then bought one of Papa's dogs?

Me: Blank stare.

Gam: (Waving her hands) Anyway, he died.

It's so much work, just for the Death and Dying Report. While I was driving Miss Daisy, she opened up the paper to the obituaries and said, "No...let's see. No. No. Hmmmm, nope." Then folded it up neatly in her lap. "I don't know any of them today." <<eye roll emoji>> Our entire drive (read: entire day) was like an extended version of this conversation. So many dead people that I don't know.

A lot of our conversations also go like this:

Gam: He was telling me when we had lunch on Tuesday that - wait, was it Tuesday or Wednesday? Let's see, what's today?

Me: Wednesday.

Gam: Ok, then it must have been...let's see, no it wasn't Tuesday because I didn't go into town that day. It must have been Monday then.

Me: Blank stare.

Me: Gam? What was he telling you?

Gam: Oh. You remember Willy Gibbs?

Me: Blank stare.

I'm supposed to fly back tomorrow but Denver is getting slammed with snow. So, if my flight is going to be delayed or cancelled, my prayer is that I find out ahead of time. I'd rather spend extra time here with Gam than in the airport drinking tequila and lesson planning. Cross your fingers! The plane may be late, but we all know that I'LL be on time. :)

New Year, Same Same!

Alternate post title: New Year, Same Rabbit!

Well, just like Lucy's fat mug during nap time, 2016 is going...going...gone.

Are you taking down Christmas stuff? All our decorations are stored back in the garage with the exception of the tree. It's so festive and beautiful. I can't take it down yet. I spend all my time (you know, other than napping and bingeing Netflix) sitting just like this. And when I say all my time, I'm being pretty darn accurate. There's been a lot of reading going on lately. And cookie eating.

You setting goals? Reflecting on 2016? Prioritizing for 2017? As you know from what I've posted in the past, I'm pretty much always setting goals. My life is nothing if not some sort of endless trajectory from Point A to Point B. There's just no set plan, per se, to this trajectory.

But.

2017 will be my last full year as a student. While I won't graduate this year, I will wrap up all my classes with the exception of my capstone semester. I've drawn out my MA degree just about as long as I could stand in order to try to truly absorb the classes, rather than rushing through, and in order to get as much college-level teaching under my belt as I could before graduating. Not bad, I must say. I will have taught many, many classes for many, many semesters by the time I'm no longer a student.

2017 will be my first year back in management after a 3 year hiatus. I say "management" loosely, but still. Career-wise, I went from somewhere in the beginning of the line...all the way to the back of the line (poor metaphor but it came to mind) and slowly, semester by semester, I've been working my way back to, let's just say the solid middle. I can't exactly see the front or the back of the line these days, and I'm pretty comfortable here.

2017 will involve a bunch of small trips to see family and friends, many of which will happen between now and summer. Looking forward to those! They'll help break up the unbelievably long winter season around here.

2017 will also involve a huge trip for me & G! Can. Not. Wait. We are out of our minds excited. More news to come shortly; the planning is almost complete.

Mostly, though, 2017 looks like it will be more of the same; continuing the inertia I've developed over the last couple of years. No major changes, no rocking the boat. Smooth and steady and all that.

How about you?

G's Good Reads of 2016

And now for the blog post you've been waiting for all year...the post with which the year would not be complete...my Good Reads for 2016. As always, these books were not necessarily published this year, I just read them this year. So, in no particular order:

Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey

Several friends of mine had been telling me for months that I needed to start this series. Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the "Expanse" series, which is now up to (I think) six titles. The SyFy channel is making a TV series out of these books; the first season, ten episodes, aired last December thru February. After seeing the series, I knew I had to try the books. Set in the not-too-distant future, humans have colonized a good portion of the Solar System, to include Mars, the asteroid belt, and some of Jupiter's moons. The books deal with social, political, and military conflict between Earth, Mars, and "the Belt", the human colonies spread throughout the asteroid belt--against the backdrop of a shadowy organization conducting experiments that will change humanity forever. I know that sounds rather vague, but there are many layers to this story, and boiling it down to a paragraph is difficult. If you like your science fiction realistic, with shades of political intrigue, social upheaval, military conflict, and a splash of the unknown, I recommend giving this book a try.

The Honor of the Queen, by David Weber

This is the second book in David Weber's highly praised "Honor Harrington" series. The series is set in humanity's far future and centers around Honor Harrington, a starship captain in the Royal Manticoran Navy--the space naval military arm of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. In this book, Honor and her pet treecat, Nimitz (named for the World War Two admiral), have to foil an insidious plot hatched by the People's Republic of Haven against the world of Grayson, which Manticore is courting as an ally. Honor is more than capable of handling whatever the PRH can throw her way...but she is hamstrung by the fact that Grayson society is dominated by men, and they cannot wrap their heads around a female naval officer, let alone a very intelligent, highly proficient female officer in command of an entire battlegroup. Weber's books (as far as I have read them) are heavy on political machinations and (theoretically) realistic starship combat, where relative speeds and physics replace the laser bolts and space dogfighting of other science fiction franchises (like my beloved Star Wars). Honor Harrington herself is modeled on Horatio Hornblower, the British naval captain in the Hornblower series written by C.S. Forester (another very good series of books). So far, the Honor Harrington books are very good, but if you want to get into them I suggest you start with the first book, On Basilisk Station.

World War I: The African Front, by Edward Paice

I've been trying to focus more on World War I history over the past few years, as we are in the middle of the hundredth anniversary of that conflict. In doing so, I'm always on the lookout for books that deal with the war away from the Western Front. While the war on the African continent didn't involve the staggering numbers of casualties that occurred in France and Belgium, the conflict was no less interesting. The British actually fired their first shots in anger in World War I in one of their colonies in West Africa. This book, however, focuses mostly on the conflict in East Africa, in what is today Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and parts of Zimbabwe. When the two sides weren't actively involved fighting each other, they were battling the elements--torrential rains, all manner of tropical diseases, and dangerous animals (it was not uncommon for porters to be attacked by lions and for elephants to tear up railroad tracks). There was a lot to the fighting in East Africa that most people don't know about--to include a few bizarre episodes, such as small-scale naval engagements that were fought on Lake Tanganyika with boats that were portaged overland for hundreds of miles. The author also makes a point of discussing the toll on the native populations--both as innocent bystanders in the conflict, and in their service to both the British and the Germans. Definitely a good read if you're looking to explore beyond the normal, tired narrative of WW1 history.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

Oh wow, where to start with this book? Ready Player One is a love-letter to '80s pop culture, set within a book that gamers will fall in love with. Wade Watts lives in the America of the near future, where massive corporations run the country and almost all life is lived online in a program called the OASIS. Hidden with the OASIS is puzzle that leads to a truly massive fortune; however, no one has ever been able to solve the puzzle, or really even find where the puzzle begins, so it has become something of legend within the program. Wade somehow stumbles onto the first clue, alerting everyone else within the OASIS, to include several corporations who want the treasure for themselves--mostly because, in addition to monetary wealth, the treasure holds a key that can control the entire OASIS, as the treasure and puzzle were put in place by the program's creator before he died. The creator was a huge fan of '80s pop culture, and the entire puzzle revolves around movie, television, and video-gaming trivia from that era. If you've ever played a massively-multiplayer online game (an MMO, as they're known), the jargon and the environment will feel familiar to you. But even if you aren't a gamer, you'll probably still get a kick out of the trip down memory lane.

Caliban's War, by James S.A. Corey

This is the second book in the "Expanse" series. Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are back in the thick of things, as the situation between Earth, Mars, and the Belt intensifies. That's really all I can say without giving away the events of the first book. Again--truly massive, grand science fiction that weaves many individual plot lines into a highly satisfactory whole.

And that's it! Hopefully you'll find something here worth adding to your own personal reading list. Let us know if you read any of this, and what you think of them!