It's been several days since my last post, and I am sorry that the posts aren't more frequent right now. I am getting into the nitty-gritty of the semester at hand and find it monopolizes MUCH of my time. Outside of work, commuting to Albany for class and back each week, doing homework and taking time to see the kids, I pretty much have no life. (I cannot deny that it was my choice to get on this circus ride! So this IS my life.)
For those of you who don't know, I am currently working on my Master of Arts degree in Latin American Literature at the University at Albany, which I began in the Fall of 2005. I attend part time, taking 2 classes per semester, so it is slow going. (Slow and steady wins the race, right?) If all goes well, I hope to take my comprehensive exams by the end of 2008, thereby completing my Masters and, with a bit of luck, being chosen as a PhD candidate in the same program. It seems so far away, until I remind myself that I have been attending school each Fall and Spring semester since January 2000 as an undergrad. So, I see a tiny glimmer at the end of the tunnel.
I will post as often as I can. But in the meantime, if any of you would like to relate an anecdote, a fond memory, or your thoughts in general and have them posted on the main page of the blog, just email me what you want posted and I will be happy and grateful for the contribution.
In the meantime, love to all. Mic
2 comments:
Michele,
What a great idea to do this! You have to love the Internet...first it was email, then the "Adirondack Jack" chat room, and now a blog. Pretty amazing stuff!
Wow, I guess I HAVE been out of touch...working on your Master's degree, huh? Last I knew, you were wowing them at the undergraduate level with your command of Spanish and posting your review of Spanish textbooks on Amazon.com (see, big brother IS watching). Now you're talking about candidacy for a doctoral degree. Very impressive, Michele.
Things are fine here. I opted not to renew my teaching contract at the prison. Three quarters of that was enough for me to realize that a) I have very severe workaholic tendencies, b) Those tendencies, and work-related stress, were turning me into a mean-spirited jerk, and c) spending my days with felons who have nothing to do all day long but spend THEIR days figuring out how to manipulate everyone else around them is not what I really want to do. Sounded like a good idea at the time, though.
For the record, I haven't been out of touch because I'm mad at anyone or anything; just simply because I was letting the full-time teaching job consume every waking hour. Getting up to grade papers at 3:30 a.m., trying to determine if it is better to do that or go to sleep at 8:15 p.m. and wake up at 12:30 a.m. to prepare for lectures so I could then squeeze in another 1.5 hours of sleep before getting ready for work at 6:00 a.m., getting antsy around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday (and, hence, all day Sunday) about the fact that Monday was almost here and I wasn't getting the things done I felt I needed to...that sort of thing. It wasn't good, and it wasn't healthy, and now it is gone.
In any case, Tracy, Brendon, and I are all fine. Since it's 6:15 a.m. and I don't have access to the latest photos on Tracy's digital camera, I can't provide a picture of how beautiful they both are with this posting. I will tell you, though, that Tracy is lovely and fun to be with and that "my boy B" is the absolute joy of our lives. What a cute, fun, happy, amazing little guy he is!
Unlike many kids with Down syndrome, he has these big round (vs. almond shaped) blue eyes and this cute round little face. There are certainly times (and especially as he is getting older) that we see more evidence of Down-related characteristics but they have mostly been limited to his physical and intellectual development and not as much to his appearance.
He knows a lot of words, is an occasional chatterbox, and responds well to instructions and encouragement, but he has yet to actually speak more than a word or two. With the characteristic hypotonia (low muscle tone), he is also still struggling with learning to stand.
He has never learned to crawl and will likely bypass that stage, opting instead for this funny little butt scoot he does to get around. He sits with his left leg tucked in close to his body and his right leg fully extended, and then reaches out with his right arm to do sort of a "plant and pivot" maneuver that lifts his little butt slightly off the floor and swings it forward. Sometimes, he assists with his left hand and sometimes, when he's feeling particularly spunky, he'll just let it swing freely with the forward motion of his body. One day not long ago, he discovered that it was fun to go in a circle doing that...kind of like an airplane awaiting clearance to land. He must have received the go-ahead from the tower, because he completed the fifth loop and headed off in the direction of Elmo Variant #117.
In any case, it's quite entertaining to watch and so I will be sure to capture and post a video of it in the near future. (Hey, it works for him and, ya know, we haven't had to sweep the floors in over a year!! Just kidding.)
Brendon tends to get fixated on things at times, too, but we've thankfully been able to rule out autism. (He's much too gregarious and interactive for that, anyway.) That being the case, and given the fact that Tracy and I also have things that consume our attention from time to time, we have decided that OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) is a guest that will ALWAYS be welcome in our home!
Now, as far as my childhood recollections are concerned, I would have to say that using the elastic waistband from our Fruit of the Looms as the firing mechanism for our crossbows warrants a place in the Top 10. Of course, standing out there in the tall grass pleading with the pollinating bumblebees not to sting me (until Chris came along to rescue me, that is) is also worthy of some note. But at the top of my list is the assertion that "It's a free country; I can do what I want!!" because I have come to discover that Tracy and her siblings used that very same argument while growing up all the way over here on the west coast! Clearly, that adds a degree of validity to secure that oh-so-righteous claim a place in the annals of American childhood history. (We need a good orator here...where's Herb when you need him?)
Well, I guess I'd better go get things ready for our participation in the semiannual neighborhood garage sale. Take care of yourself, Michele. I love you (No, really, I do!!), and I'll post a comment (and, hopefully, some images) again soon. Bye for now.
Love to all,
Keith
P.S. This really was a great idea, Mic. Thanks for being so creative...and so committed to keeping everyone in touch. (A master's in Latin America Literature and Web skills, to boot! Exxxxxxccccceeeeelllllleeeennnnnt!!)!
Oh, Keith, I am so glad you joined us here!!! And...YOU CRACK ME UP! I laughed my way through most of your post. I SO forgot about the waistband thing. HA HA HA! Oh what a great laugh remembering that!!
Your family sounds great! Hi Tracy; Hi Brendon. (Karen showed me pics of the little dude. He IS a cutie!
I thought you'd been teaching at a community college. I am glad to here that, since it was a prison system and because it is causing you so much anxiety, you are leaving it behind. As I am gradually discovering more every day, life is TOO SHORT to cling to things that make you unhappy.
I don't know of a way yet for anyone leaving comments to be able to post pics and videos themselves, so email them once you take them and I will GLADLY put them on. (Still struggling with this blog technology thing a bit, but "I think I can. I think I can.")
I am glad you like the idea of a blog. It is such a good, centralized way of staying in touch. Especially if everyone (or as many as possible) participate. That way you are writing once, instead of to 11 separate siblings. And I am ALL for shortcuts in this day of crammed schedules.
Thanks for the compliment on school. Hold back the applause until i finally make it through. It is a rough road and I can truly say there is not one week that goes by that I don't want to chuck it and have my free time back again. When people ask me what I want to do once I am finished getting my degrees, I say "I want to be a professor when I grow up." :) I knew I wanted to do something with languages, but was so vague on what that something was because I hadn't pictured myself as a teacher. Now, in some respects I do, in others I still don't. I feel that not having studied in a country/region where Spanish is the predominant language has been a severe detriment to my progress. Yes I can speak it, but it is glaringly obvious to myself and to others in my intended field that my ability to participate in scholarly conversation is held back by my fumbling over the words. In turn, that fumbling produces in me a mixture of embarassment and anxiety which adds to the inability to let the words flow. I thought last semester would have given me a leg up with this (I took an excellent teaching methods class in which we had almost weekly presentations in front of the classroom), but once in front of the class, I lose focus. I don't have that level of performance anxiety when I am speaking English. It truly annoys me, because I cannot seem to get past it. How will I be able to warrant being addressed as "professor" when even my first year students will be able to see I cannot function well in the language myself? Everyone keeps telling me, "It will come..it will happen for you", but WHEN?
Oh well...enough of that.
So what are you going to do now that you aren't working at the prison?
Take care. I have to hit the books again. Love to all.
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