And they're off

It's a strange start to the semester, in many ways. This year's election has been surreal; we all swim through its constant downward spiral as if waiting to wake up from a dream, and there are still more than two months to go. Our retreat weekend with the incoming students has been moved up so that we're leaving tomorrow -- after only one class with them. And although I have worked steadily all summer, producing a journal article and 2/3 of a book, I still feel like I napped my way through these three months.

But here we are. Cady Gray has started grade 7 (accelerated math, we love you!), and Archer is warily wading into grade 10 (AP Physics, Algebra II and Programming woo-hoo, AP World History and Pre-AP English, not sure yet). A new batch of Honors students has landed in my class, and will be anxiously trying to keep their heads above water as they learn to navigate Blackboard and post their first assignments. I have two new teaching assistants and two new thesis students to mentor. And I'm on the search committee for our new dean, while at the same time the university searches for a new president.

It doesn't all happen at once, that's the saving grace. Except when it does. Which are the times I feel like nobody's got their hand on the regulator. More than anything I hate the feeling of a bunch of things, even little things, going wrong at once -- I start to get squirrelly when even one of those things happens, like something breaking around the house, as some primal part of my psyche whispers "this is how it begins."

That's because more than anything I like it when things are going right, when everything's under control, when there are no clouds on the horizon. Yesterday I listened to PJ Vogt, co-host of the podcast Reply All, describe how his mom obsesses about the health and well-being of everyone in her extended family. The only time she's truly relaxed and able to enjoy herself, Vogt said, was when everyone is gathered for a holiday or a reunion. That's when she can directly surveill the entire brood. No one is off falling ill or getting into an accident. Everyone's OK.

I don't have a worrying problem at this level, but I do have an addiction to security and safety. It's a trait that serves me well occasionally (saving money), but more often leads me to forgo even small risks or, worse, steer my children away from them for my peace of mind. Letting them go to camp this year was big in that regard. Maybe I can keep on taking those next steps toward their independence and my mental health.

They both had a great time at camp, by the way. Archer's favorite was all-you-can-eat meals at the cafeteria; CG's was the friends she made. You don't know how teary-eyed that last bit makes me, still, a month later.

Happiness is a warm pupper

I always appreciate the way that Noel tries to make Mother's Day both special for me, and not actively annoying to me. He gets the kids to pick out cards and little treats. He asks if I'd like him to make anything special for dinner, but if I don't have any ideas, he comes up with his own (delicious) ones. Otherwise he knows that I want what Frankie Heck wants: a Not-Mother's Day. No pressure, no pomp, and for God's sake, no brunch.

That's exactly what I had on Sunday, and darned if it wasn't one of the happiest days I've had (in the midst of a very happy season of a very happy year). I laughed and played games with the kids, I ate delicious food, I took a long walk with my podcasts, and I watched television with my husband. The exact definition of good times.

And the next day the A.V. Club published a list Noel and I put together of the most useful shorthand quotes from Charles Schulz's Peanuts, a comic that definitively shaped both of our childhoods and helped to bring us together. It was so wonderful to collaborate with him and to enjoy the reaction of those who shared it and commented on it.

School is out, and the living is easy. I'm working on a qualitative research task brought to me by some faculty in the physical therapy department, part of a paper about use of an outcomes assessment tool in students' clinical rotations. It needs to be done by the end of the week, so I'm working through it chunk by chunk. Once that's done, I'll start on my writing project for the summer -- a book for Fortress Press's Theology for the People series.

It's only week 2 of the summer, by even the stingiest accounting. There's much warmth and many pleasures to come.

Personal day

Who could ask for more on Mother's Day?  I crocheted with my daughter, sipped my favorite beverage, spent quality time with my sewing machine, watched a vintage Tupperware promotional film, and got this card from my son (also addressed to his Granny Lou, who took the original while I kept these scans):



Happy Mother's Day
and have a lot of
love in your heart
You have 999 hearts and 999 fire-flowers and 8 stars
Great



Donna and Granny Lou, you are awesome ... both of you.
Donna, great knitting and
Granny Lou, great Uno
playing!  Excellent!

Put them all together they spell mother

For Mother's Day I received:

• A handmade card from Cady Gray with a heart and XO's on the front, and a picture of me building a five-shelf bookcase on the inside
• A handmade card from Archer with a heart on the front, and reading inside: "Dear Mom -- You help me when I need it. I love you! Love, Archer. P.S. I owe you 1,000,000 Mom Bucks!"
• My very own locally-produced Kris Allen "Kick Awesome" t-shirt
• Sleeping Beauty, my favorite Disney movie, on Blu-Ray
• An extra 90 minutes of sleep this morning
• 90 minutes of time to myself this afternoon
• Breakfast at Starbucks
• Dinner at Fuji Steakhouse
  
• The news that the flowers I ordered for my mother were delivered to the wrong address (not so awesome)
  
• Star Trek (totally awesome)
  

Thank you, Noel and kids!

Just the facts

Archer filled out a "Mommy Fact Sheet" at school. Here's how he sees me:

My mom's name is Donna Bowman.
She is 43 years old.
She is 6 feet 7 inches tall. [Not true.]
She weighs 150 pounds. [Close, and on the right side of close.]
Her hair color is Brown.
Her favorite food is Pizza. [I do like pizza.]
Her favorite thing to drink is Crystal Clear. [Nope.]
Her favorite thing to do at home is Knit sweaters & mittens.
Her favorite TV show is American Idle.
She likes to cook deviled eggs. [Yep!]
Her favorite hobby is knitting.
She likes to go to the library. [Yep!]
Her favorite thing about me is good as golds, no folder marks. [I need to work on praising him for something other than his behavior record at school, don't I?]