I have such fun with Elizabeth each MWF as she and I eat lunch together before our 1:00 social psychology class. She is ridiculously smart; I know I'm basking in her reflected glory
, but I have to share: She has the highest grade across all 3 of the course's sections, a total of 62 students, almost all of which are college juniors or seniors. The semester ends in less than 2 weeks; all that remains is one paper and one exam. But don't be sad for me, because she is taking Relationships with me next semester! The fun continues .... for me, anyway; I won't speak for her. I did catch her rolling her eyes a wee little bit when I recently mentioned that no
study shows listening to music while studying significantly increases exam scores. Here is a poster of her latest community service project; these signs and gallon bags are posted throughout our classroom building.
Elizabeth's college journey continues. She and Steven have taken two weekend trips this fall, checking out some new schools and revisiting Knox, Elizabeth's top choice. She has visited six of the seven schools to which she applied. Such an exciting time for her and for all of us, anticipating which campus she will call home, in less than a year. We are so curious as to know which school will be fortunate enough to get to call her one of their students. She submitted all of her applications early, and now, the waiting begins.
Basketball season, on the other hand, has begun. Scott County is ranked #1 in the
state pre-season. Michael starts for JV, is rarely taken out of games, and had two impressively solid scrimmages so far. He just came home from practice and said he will travel with the
varsity team for their final scrimmage tomorrow! Scott County's first official game begins in about a week. Michael has practice six days each week and often spends time outside of practice at the Pavillion or working out. He and Steven constructed a "jump box," 24 inches high. Sometimes Michael jumps onto it 250-300 times in one day. I become weary simply hearing his sneakers squeaking.
Michael continues to do well academically, in spite of all the time basketball requires. He made some creative marshmallow pops for his Spanish class' Day of the Dead party. He enjoys his Money Skills class and has learned how to use cragislist. He ventured out of his comfort zone a bit when he and his friends held a yard sale!
The four of us spent a day in Simpsonville celebrating Rosemary's birthday.
We went to Toyota Day at Kings Island in September.
We spent Thanksgiving in Shelbyville.
Today, our Christmas tree is up and glowing!
And the dogs still love their daily walks.
Last weekend Laura, Mary, and I co-presented our cross-cultural research, for which we described and analyzed our students' stress levels. It was THE BEST CONFERENCE EVER. We attended multiple sessions, ranging from implicit bias to how to write a thesis statement. Did I mention we were swamped with interested colleagues during our poster session?! I finally told Laura and Mary we needed to leave when we still had three fans hovering, 25 minutes after the session had ended! We learned. We laughed. We talked. We caught up. And the three of us taking a trip together allowed me to cross off the one remaining item on my bucket list.
Life is so good!
Elizabeth and I continued our annual tradition of attending The Nutcracker. Here we are at intermission. This year we saw a Russian troupe performing the ballet. They were incredible.
Saturday we celebrated Christmas with Steven's family. We served pizza. Such a stress-free day; it was so nice to spend time with our relatives instead of preparing food in the kitchen. Pizza just might become our new annual Christmas celebration tradition.
