I started teaching at Pima Community College in the last week of August. It was really tense at first, but now I am feeling fairly comfortable in front of the class. I am still sweating up a storm the whole time, but I don't think that the students can tell. I thought they were learning lots of things until I gave my first test. The test covered three major readings, plus the art and music written between 1600 and 1775 or so. We went over everything the day before the test and I thought everything was ok. I got the test back and it was very clear that everything was NOT ok. The average score was a 43. Two people passed the test: one with a 61.5 and one with a 90. I talked with the class after that and I will be providing a study sheet for the next test.
One of the students complained about me to the dean, and I had to have a meeting with her to discuss the whole thing. The dean felt that my test was too hard and covered too much information. I still don't agree with this, but I am going to have to let it go if I want to stay there, and I do want to stay there. I am working on figuring out how to make the tests both more accessible and still a good test. The dean suggested that I have terms at the top and they have to choose a selection to define instead of having so many fill in the blank. The dean also said that she didn't think I could expect them to learn so much information, especially when they are all taking more than my class. Again, I don't agree with this, but I am going to have to go with it if I want to stay at Pima. It bothers me that the expectations are so low. I know that these students could learn anything I put in front of them -- it is a question of work and time and it seems like they don't really know how to work efficiently.
I am right in the middle of grading the first paper for the class, and I don't think it is going very well. There are a ton of grammar errors, and in spite of me handing out a sheet on how to write a paper, they seem to have no idea how to formulate an argument. Many of the papers I have read do not contain a thesis statement. Many of them also have very little in the way of organization. I am wondering how to grade these papers. So far, most have a C or below, if I were being nice. But after that student complained about my test, and the dean said that I cannot expect them to learn all the stuff involved in the class, is she now going to say that I cannot grade the papers with as much vigor as I want to grade them, simply because I cannot expect them to be able to write?
The dean has assigned me two classes for the spring semester: Humanities 251 and Writing 100 (Writing Fundamentals). They are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings, back to back. The Humanities class covers the ancient Greeks and Romans all the way through St. Augustine. This should be a fantastic class! The writing class could be fun, or could be a drag, depending on how much the students want to learn.
We have a new car now -- or at least, new to us. We purchased a 2008 Toyota Sienna in the first week of October. The 2002 Honda Odyssey decided that it didn't need a transmission any more and killed it. We asked Honda to fix it since the transmission in that year is known for crapping out, but they declined. This is how we ended up buying a Toyota -- Ron was really ticked off at Honda. It is a really nice minivan, and there is lots of space in it. The big flaw in the whole thing is that now we have a car payment, which we haven't had for 5 years. I hate car payments.
In other news, my father in law has been ill and so my inlaws were unable to stay with the guys while Ron and I went to Nick and Jen's wedding. After scrambling around and paying out a LOT of money, we found two people willing to take care of the guys so that Ron could go to the wedding too. The woman who watched them the first night has only one child, and she is just under a year old, so I think it was very exciting for her to stay with the guys. She hasn't told me about how things went except to say that everything was terrific. I don't know if I believe that, but I am just going to go with it.
The rest of the trip, another friend took care of the guys, with help from her two teenagers (the teenagers babysit for us too, so they knew the guys). Again, I was told that everything was fine... and again, I don't know if I believe that. However, I am just going to go with it. When we arrived home on Monday night (late and without my baggage), Andy and Benjamin were sick, so I know that things didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked.
We had a very good time on the trip, but wow, I was exhausted when we got home. We arrived on Thursday night at midnight, and caught the blue shuttle to my inlaws' house. The blue shuttle has the worst drivers in the entire DC area, I am sure. We were taken to the wrong address and finally got home at 1:00am. I was so carsick -- it was awful.
On Friday, we went to visit my father-in-law in rehab and talked to him about getting ready to come home. He wasn't very happy with me, but I am worried about him not getting out of bed. When you are 69 years old, if you don't use it, you lose it, you know? My mother-in-law is a pretty strong person, but this whole event seems to have overtaken her a little bit and she hasn't been as assertive as she can be. I am hoping that now that I have talked to Bill a little bit and made him mad, that my mother-in-law can now keep him moving and get him to graduate rehab.
Friday afternoon was spent at the Anderson house, just hanging out and being with the family. Then we rushed back to my inlaws' house and got dressed for the big party on Friday night. We drove to Alexandria and went to the restaurant that the rehearsal dinner was to take place and even managed to not get lost, thanks to the GPS in the car. It was a GREAT party! It was very noisy though, so we left after a couple of hours and went to a party at a friend's house to see some other friends of ours. We got home at 1am and I discovered shortly after that that I cannot sleep on the bed at my inlaws' house.
Saturday morning, we got up early and drove down to Alexandria again to go to the wine tasting at Chrysalis Vineyards. We loaded up on two buses and headed out at 9am. The ride was about an hour and a half, and we got there to find that the tasting was all set up. We tasted 12 wines, and then had cheese and crackers, grapes, and chocolate. The only flaw in the trip was that it was a little cooler than anticipated and it was breezy. Other than that, it was a great time. We drove back to the Anderson house afterwards and tried to help my mother get ready for the big party at her house, for our side of the family. I think it went well that evening and I think everyone had a good time.
Sunday morning, we went to the Anderson House and then just hung around and talked. Then we went back to my inlaws' house and got dressed and drove down to Alexandria for the wedding. We made it 9 minutes before the ceremony was due to begin because there was some traffic on the way down. We parked and practically ran to the church, got in, sat down for about 5 minutes and the ceremony started. It was terrific. Jen looked lovely, and Nick was very handsome. The dress the bridesmaids' wore was grecian and dark purple and very elegant. The ceremony was very nice and the music was also good -- a trumpet player was a very nice touch. Once the ceremony was over, we drove to the Army/Navy Club on 17th street for the reception.
What a party! There were passed appetizers and cheese and crackers, and lots of pictures of both families. We were seated for dinner around 6:30pm and while dinner was going on, Nick and Jen had the toasts and the cake cutting. It was all done by the time dinner was over. Dinner was fabulous not only because of the food, but because all of the stuff that you are waiting for was done: the toasts, the cake, the first dance. Then, the party was on! We danced and danced and danced and danced -- the wedding party was out on the floor all night, and so were all of my aunts. It was a fabulous evening!! It was so wonderful to see everyone -- and everyone looked so good!
We flew home on Monday and our plane was delayed. Then my luggage didn't show up in Tucson. I got it back late Tuesday night, and was grateful that it wasn't damaged. However, we came home to Andy and Benjamin being sick, and then Andy stayed home the next day. I left on Friday for Las Vegas where I had been going to race, but I decided when we got home from the wedding that doing the race wasn't a very good idea since I wasn't totally prepared training-wise.
I drove to Las Vegas with two of my friends and we left at 5am. We had to drive over the Hoover Dam, and since I hadn't ever seen it, we parked and I took some pictures of the area. It was breathtaking -- the pictures don't really do it justice. The dam is white in the sun, and the water looks wonderful. It was an amazing feat of building, and as you walk around, you can see where they drilled the rock to drop in the dynamite and blow it up.
Here are pictures of the bronze statue by the visitor's center at the Hoover Dam. I really liked this statue.
We arrived at Lake Mead and headed for check in for the race. This is when I became more happy that I had elected to not do the race since the hills were brutal. It turns out that the final six miles of the race were uphill, and the final two miles, were uphill and between 8-10% grade. It was hot too, so those hills would have been even worse. After checking out the course, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
The next day, we headed to the race course and I took up my official position of photographer/sherpa for my friends and they set up their transition. They both made it through the race and did very well. That last hill was a doozy! After the race, we all went back to the hotel and showered, got packed up and moved on to Las Vegas. One of my friends has a friend who is in the hotel industry, and she got us a room at the Rio Hotel, which was a little bit off the strip, at the employee rate -- less than half of what the room usually goes for on a Saturday night! The room was gorgeous -- there is a big difference between the Best Western and a big hotel in Las Vegas. The sheets were way nicer than the standard and the fold out bed was fantastic.
Two of us went down to the casino while the other one took a nap. We had a drink and people watched. Wow is there great people watching in the casino! The ladies who were serving the drinks were wearing the smallest, most see through outfits I have ever seen. Really. They were black lace and the ladies were wearing a g-string and nothing else. How do they wear stockings when there is no waistband possible under an outfit like that?? We went to dinner at the asian place inside the hotel and then went to the theatre in the hotel and saw Penn and Teller. This was totally beyond AWESOME! The show was fantastic and we had a great time. Penn really is 6'7" -- after the show, both men were out in the lobby talking to everyone who had come to the show.
After the show, one of us went to bed, and then the other one and I went out to walk around the Las Vegas strip. I have never seen so many people dressed in so little clothing, drinking so large a selection of drinks, and being solicited by so many people offering business cards with ladies of the evening on them. Really, it was amazing. The buildings were stupendous -- totally over the top and huge. The amount of space in these casinos is just huge and they must be designed so that people cannot find their way out very easily. The Bellagio had a gorgeous blown glass ceiling in their lobby, done by Chihuly. Caesar's Palace was really something too -- the mosaic floors were incredible.
The big issue I have with Las Vegas is that it seemed like a place where everyone let their most horrifying instincts out. The seven deadly sins were fully represented and it seemed like everything there was focused on money, food, alcohol, and sex. The people there were all focused on food, alcohol, and sex. There were groups of girls wandering around dressed as if they were straight out of the Frederick's of Hollywood catalog and were surely using double sided tape to keep the dresses in place. Also, they were wearing the highest heels I have ever seen. Worst of all, they were very young, say 21 years old, and all of them were very drunk. It was a problem waiting to happen. I found it a little depressing. The lights were fabulous, and the shows were fun, and the water fountain show at the Bellagio was fantastic, but I don't think I will ever need to go to Las Vegas again.
In other news, James flunked his gross and fine motor skills development tests. The physical therapist at the school thinks that James is a "sensation seeker" and that is why he is having some difficulty adjusting to school. It turns out that James is melting down in Kindergarten and to get things done, his teacher must sit beside him the whole time. He also hums all the time and throws himself down on the ground when it is time to change activities. He is unable to keep himself still or in his seat and he is having a lot of difficulty with doing anything in a reasonable amount of time. So, James will be in physical and occupational therapy for the rest of the school year, and will also be in speech therapy, since he is still lisping. I don't care -- they can put him in PT five days a week if it means that he stops whining and crying every time I ask him to get dressed.
I think that brings everyone up to date on what is going on in Tucson... I will try to be better about updating the blog!
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