Hello again, world. I’ve been here, just not here. And you know why? Facebook. Twitter. Life, the pithy version. Alas, I have drunk the Kool-Aid and keep asking for refills. Erk.
2010 was the year in which I became a toddler’s mama. Why I bothered to compete in a post-pregnancy 5K is anyone’s guess, because I run a 5K everyday. Between Toddlette and teenagers, I’m fitting nicely into my jeans. Getting to know Toddlette as she grows into a full-on person, I often stop myself to just watch her, to savor the moments. She knows her own mind, is affectionate, loves to laugh, and knows how to make us laugh. I can look at her from across the room and say, “Do you know what?” and have her in hysterics. Nothing gives her greater pleasure than to respond to, “What’s that smell?” than by raising her foot to my nose. She’s a one-woman show, and I’m enjoying my front-row seats.
2010 also saw me reading more than I had in awhile. I won free subscriptions to Ode Magazine and The Economist, and cannot put down the latter! I’d get a hold of great online articles from time to time, but the full print edition cannot be beat for thorough reporting from around the world in all areas of the humanities. Rarely have I read something from which I consistently learn so much from so many. These, along with our Smithsonian and Harper’s and Star Magazine (shut up) subscriptions, keep it lively and informed around here.
I also decided to pursue a Masters of Liberal Studies degree this year. Nothing else to do, right? Right. The program is great, as I can do one course each session, many of them online, and even get the reading lists a session ahead to get a jump on all the reading. Even the handbook for this program is filled with interesting essays and academic tidbits, such as “great reading lists for a liberal arts education”. It’s a good degree for those of us who kinda fling our arms open to the world. In my own teaching practice, I boomerang what I am learning right back to the kids, so it keeps me interested and (I hope) interesting.
Life is good. You?