Jeesh It's February

Well I just turned around and it is February. February! When did January end? And how is there less than a week left in February? I have so much work to do.

When I was 14 years old I was in the ninth grade. Generally my grades averaged around 95/100, which is not bad. The fourth quarter of my ninth grade year I was playing softball, running track, cheerleading, doing the school newspaper, playing in the high school band, taking religious education, and going to school taking a full honors courseload. I hit a wall. A serious wall. I earned an 88 that quarter, lowest gpa of my high school career, and other than my bulemic semester in college, the lowest gpa of my life. I learned that I couldn't do everything. There just was not enough time. I was exhausted. I was miserable. And I figured out that the amazing Duchess could only truly juggle so many balls. Unfortunately the lesson was forgotten in the years since as I have piled more and more upon myself.

I am doing too much. I am saying yes too often. I am underappreciated for some of the things I am doing very well and I am doing some other things not well at all because I am doing too much. I would say I am currently earning an 88 in my life when I average a 95. The excess baggage will be cut this year, partly because of the parasite I am carrying who will require I earn a 110 for him or her, and partly because I have a constant migraine from this wall I am forever slamming into.

What should go? Should I make a list and then cross off the players that have no value? How does someone who has always done it all stop?

Introduction to American National Government course

I have been teaching this course for years. Literally, for years. I have had hundreds of students come through my classes. We always do discussions. And they are always heated, but always polite. For some reason this semester I have a class with some Neanderthals who apparently do not know what it means to be polite to people. They attack each other with serious vitriol. So I send an announcement saying, please behave like the adults you are, rather than the children you want to be (or something nicer than that). Now they attack each other via email. It's ridiculous - rigoddamndiculous! I seriously want to send an email to each student and say, are you serious? Are you this stupid? WTF?

ARGH.

Thank you lefty bloggers and conservative talk show hosts for creating an atmosphere in this country where we can't deliberate we can only yell at each other.

Albuquerque

I must have forgotten to take that let turn in Albuquerque....

I love this city. This is the second time I have been here and this time I get to come with my hubby, who of course is my favorite travel partner. It's beautiful here, and they have a tram (ah the horror of a gondola!). They also have the oldest continuous church in the country, it began in 1703. And of course it's Catholic. Smile.

I'm here for a conference, which of course I have yet to attend a panel. Um, my first conference in Savannah, Georgia I went nowhere near the panels. My first conference in Boston I wandered the freedom trail. If it's a neat place, I am out and about.

It's cool here. Neat place.

Trolley Square Shooting

Monday night in Salt Lake City, at a particularly favorite shopping spot of mine, a young man walked in and shot with a shot gun five other people. It was horrifying and it was scary and it was sad. I have been thinking about this for a few days now and a number of things have come up as interesting points to think about as a result.

1. The xenophobia of Utahns, all of whom were quick to point out that the shooter was a refugee from Bosnia, and thus not from here. Not from here.
2. The badness of local media coverage. The broadcast media chose to tell their own story or to interview the same person in three different stories that were supposedly from three different perspectives. The newspaper media chose to run on the front page above the fold a picture of a dead body.
3. The ridiculousness of gun rights conversation. Here in Utah, home of the easiest way to get a gun quickly legislation, the first response to this young man shooting people was not "how'd he get the gun?", it was "if all those people in that mall had a concealed weapon, then they would have been safe." I am someone who is somewhat supportive of gun rights, I think that many people are safe hunters and I think the last thing you want in a society is for the government to be the only one with weapons, but I am also someone who is somewhat supportive of gun control. Seems to me you ought not to be able to get your hands on a shot gun. And - do they seriously think it would be a better idea for a 16 year old girl to be packing at the mall? So she shoots back, then someone thinks she's the shooter, so they shoot her with their concealed weapon, and so on and so on.
4. The bravery of bureaucrats who often get no credit. The hero of the day was an Ogden off duty police officer, yes that's right, from my home town where our mayor would like police officers to have to slam dunk a basketball in order to get their pay. He heard the initial gun shots, looked over the ledge, drew attention to himself so the shooter, instead of killing other people started shooting at him. He is a hero. He is a bureaucrat. He is underpaid: the police officers in Utah can't afford to live in the cities they protect. He should be rewarded for his bravery.

I am sad for these families who have lost their loved ones. I am sad for this young man who somehow got to the place where he felt no other option than to kill people at a mall. I am proud of a police officer who went above and beyond and then said it was just his duty.

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day and I have a horrible cold that finds me still in my pajamas on my couch with the only love around my puppies. That's a bit depressing. Smile. But my husband came through big time for me. I came upstairs in the morning and found roses, sweethearts, chocolate covered strawberries and the funniest Valentine's card. Now he's gone to the grocery store to buy me soup.

I love him. Lucky lucky me.

My Values

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty a fair amount. You're loyal to your friends... to a point. But if they cross you, you will reconsider your loyalties. Staying true to others is important to you, but you also stay true to yourself. Honesty: You value honesty a fair amount. You're honest when you can be, but you aren't a stickler for it. If a little white lie will make a situation more comfortable, you'll go for it. In the end, you mostly care about "situational integrity." Generosity: You value generosity highly. So much so that you often put your own needs last. There's nothing wrong with having a caring heart... But you may want to rethink your "open wallet" policy. Humility: You value humility a fair amount. You tend to be an easy going, humble person. But occasionally your ego takes over. You have a slight competitive streak - and the need to be the best. Tolerance: You value tolerance highly. Not only do you enjoy the company of those very different from you... You do all that you can to seek it out interesting and unique friends. You think there are many truths in life, and you're open to many of them.

The Five Factor Values Test

The In-Laws Ascend?

I had referred to their arriving as descending, so I suppose I must refer to their leaving as ascending. And, I guess they ascended as they flew home from here.

It was fun. I am exhausted, but it was fun. They got a lot of skiing in. They saw family, other than us, and my father-in-law ran into someone he knew from a hundred years ago. A good time was had by all.

Today Paul and I have about 10 garbage bags to take out. We have many sheets and towels to wash. And generally, getting ourselves wound down from having company. I will particularly enjoy having my car back to drive.

Super Bowl Excitement

Woo hoo. The Colts won the Super Bowl. Here's one team I could give a crap about playing against another team I haven't thought of since the 1980s Super Bowl Shuffle - and didn't someone named the Refrigerator play on that team?

I watched Monk. The Monk Marathon on USA. I got the big television while my husband and his family watched the Super Bowl on the little television. Not that I wouldn't have switched, but they like to stand around for hours looking at a television. Another quirky gene.

Monk was fabulous. So while hero of the moment Peyton Manning destroyed the hopes of Chicago, I watched a neo-Sherlock Holmes solve crimes. Bleh football...although, I must say, I went to Syracuse when Marvin Harrison went to Syracuse, so maybe some small part of me was rooting for the Colts.

Fun at the Game

Last night the family, our friends Thom and Jaynie, and I went to a Wildcats basketball game. Which was great fun and hysterical. My brother-in-law cited Drive Me Crazy - a personal movie fave of mine so I was totally with him - and said he would not cheer Weber State Weber State Great Great Great, but then he stood at the edge of a balcony to catch a thing Waldo was shooting up into the crowd. Which was great because it turned out it was a Wildcat paw which my friend Jaynie has been dying to get this whole season. It's a good thing he was there, and he's nice, because he gave it to her and now she has a paw.

Much fun was had by all!