This week's to do list:

• work on my online class assignments (I'm the student)
• help plan my dad's 60th birthday party
• swim
• bike
• bake my dad a German chocolate cake
• swim
• fill out PEO grant paperwork to pay for online class
• meet friends for coffee, lunch and swimming
• clean house
• do laundry
• bike
• swim
  

BIG plans

Last summer I wrote about the book Slow Fat Triathlete. It planted a little seed in my head. I started to think about my sorry state of inactivity and about turning 40. Put the two together and voilà—I’m now entered in the Tri for the Cure-Denver 2009 on August 2. I’m really excited about it because I don’t usually set this type of goal. I do feel that with a lot of work and training this summer, I’ll be able to do it with a few months to spare before I turn 40 on the last day of the year.

The other reason this appealed to me this year is that one of my aunts was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. She had a double mastectomy a couple of weeks ago and will be going through chemo and radiation this summer..the same summer in which both of her sons are getting married.

If you’d like to support me and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, please make a donation of any amount!

Thank you!

I have another blog now, too. A "professional" one. Haha. Join me there, too! It's called: Forthcoming. (Get it? Like the title is forthcoming, once I decide on it.)

How do I miss the sound of an explosion?

My neighbor has been trying to sell his 1972 Jeep Commando. He put 8 years of love into restoring it; it’s beautiful. Or was.

Yesterday while I was on the phone, the Jeep’s fuel pump exploded. I didn’t even hear it and it’s only 50 feet away. I knew about it because I happened to hear my brother’s truck out front and looked out the window. My sister-in-law motioned to me to get outside tout de suite, so, of course I did. Harry had called the fire department so they were on their way, but the Jeep was on fire! Guess who had a fire extinguisher handy? Yes, Ms. Safety to the rescue.

The post in which I expose three of my most embarrassing moments in the classroom

You know those moments in class when you’ve said something seemingly normal, but once the students in the room start laughing, sometimes uproariously, you realize that you’ve said something very wrong, usually full of innuendo? Or the other times when you have a wardrobe malfunction?

1. Sometime in the late 90’s I was teaching an 8:00 Spanish 101 class at a midwestern university. Anyone in higher ed knows that students are still mostly asleep at this hour, which worked in my favor in this particular tale. As I walked through the classroom doing my thing, I noticed that my shirt was sticking out sharply in the chest area. It took me a second to realize that the wire in my brassiere had worked itself out and was doing a fine job supporting the fabric of my shirt. In this case, I think that I was the only who noticed, but I’ll never know for sure.

2. I have a shockingly reddish-pink suitcase with a soft cover and silver zipper that is chock-full of clothes I’ve collected over the years. My dad’s old suit is now a classroom prop as well as several prime items from Goodwill. The other suit in the case that kids tend to love is brown with pinstripes. Even though it’s a woman’s suit, the boys always gravitate towards it.

A few years ago in my French I class students were preparing for their annual fashion show using their recently-acquired vocabulary. Frédéric chose the brown suit and pulled it on over his own clothes for his group’s show. As the other kids repacked the suitcase, he refused to shed the suit insisting that he was going to wear it to his next class. At that point, I looked at him and said, “Take off my pants now!” I turned a few shades of red and rolled my eyes once I had processed what I had said.

3. I used to give verb quizzes on a half-sheet of paper, cut lengthwise. I decided to save on copies, so put the quiz on a transparency and asked students to use their own paper torn the same way. Two weeks ago as the tardy bell was nearing its warning, I said, “Get your paper out and tear it the way I like it, right up the middle.” The sixteen year old boys in the class found that particularly hilarious. I’m still trying to re-establish my credibility in that class.

(A few of) My Tweeps:
Get your twitter mosaic here.

Hulu

Late last fall I canceled cable--no more HBO, no more Showtime, and no more DVR. I miss the DVR the most. But, amidst all this loss, I have taken full advantage of Hulu. I can't get enough Arrested Development, dammit. That show is Funny. I bust a gut at least twice per episode. Watch it! Watch it now!

Spring Break '09

Due to Jacobo's birthday falling in the middle of spring break this year, I had to finagle my travel plans to Arizona to accommodate his permit pick-up. We drove to Cortez on Monday since it was approximately the half-way point between here and Phoenix. Plus, it was the last stop in Colorado where he could get his permit! And, family lives there, so the lodging was free. Yeah, not exciting, but oh-so convenient. On Wednesday we hit the DMV and the road. Jacob drove 100 miles--a good start to a year of practice.

Phoenix was hot and fragrant. It lulled me into a false sense of summer. The highlight for me was shopping at IKEA where I fantasized about living in a cute little Swedish flat with my charming, smart and impeccably dressed boyfriend. The highlight for Jacobo (and for me, really) was riding in a Corvette around a race track with a professional. On the staightaways were were going 120. Fun.

Jacobo rounded a big corner today--literally and figuratively. He passed his written driver's permit test. In 10 short days he'll begin (continue) driving with me in the navigator's seat. We're driving to Phoenix for spring break. On Monday we'll drive to scenic Cortez, in the southwest corner of the state. On the morning of his birthday (Wednesday), we'll hit the local DMV, get his actual permit and head to Phoenix via Monument Valley. He should be able to log many hours while I ride along white-knuckled.

Footprints (and not the cheesy ones printed on those beach pictures)

I've been reading a ton about digital footprints (you thought you only had to worry about your carbon footprint). My digital footprint is getting wider by the day. I'm completely addicted to Twitter, a micro-blog, which feeds over there on the right side of your screen. What has amazed me the most about it is how much I've learned in the months I've been twittering. I've built a manageable network of educators, knitters and pop-culture experts that I follow.

I'm also on Facebook. I resisted for a long time, but caved early last summer. I've reconnected with about half of my high school class (it was small), keep in touch with family and interact with colleagues.

The downside of all of my online social networking is that I haven't been writing here as much.