Monday, October 31, 2011

monday miscellaney

It's been a while!

Since we last met there's been a trip to Melrose, bouts with a nasty cold, home rearranging, office tailgate party, and miscellaneous mini adventures. Such variety!

I'm not generally an overly cautious person, but I've taken under advisement the counsel not to broadcast occasions when we will be out of town. Like our recent trip to Melrose. I'm not really worried about someone taking advantage of our absence and breaking into our house while we're gone, but there's that little piece of me that is okay with not letting that cat out of the proverbial bag.

It was a short trip: left Thursday afternoon, got there after dark, and returned Monday morning. Let me just say that the weather was spectacular. Stunning. Brilliant. True, crisp, autumn glory. A little chilly at night, but that's why we have blankets and fireplaces.

We enjoyed a visit with Kenneth and Trisha, our friends Jimmy and Barbara, and our usual and customary date with the wisteria for pruning. The next thing we new we were back on the road heading home. Waaaaaahhhhh!

In the "bursting with pride" department: Kenneth completed an Army Special Forces Selection process last week. The first great thing about that is that he completed the course. Tougher than Ranger school. The next great thing about it is that he completed the course with honors. Stellar graduate. Can you see me beaming? In two weeks he and Trisha will move to Ft. Bragg (Fayetteville, NC) where he begins what is known as "Q." More training. The first six months will be intensive language training, then small unit tactical training, and I can't remember what comes after that, although I may have the order of parts two and three reversed. Another chapter begins!

Saturday my office hosted a tailgate event on campus. It was intended to be an offering for our nontraditional students and their families, with kids encouraged to come in costume, and treats offered for the young-uns. It was a gorgeous day, we had great catered barbecue (and the best mac-n-cheese!), and enjoyed meeting the students who came by, though few of our target population were among them. Oh well! Time for a survey to see what sorts of events might be better attended. It's pricey to offer a meal and not have your group show up to eat it.  We still had fun, as might be indicated by this picture of my assistant, Valerie, trying on someone's hat.

Tomorrow I'm off to Indianapolis for a few days for a national adult learning conference. It's not that I don't get the dynamics of adult learning (the stories of my students keep me well abreast of that!), but this will be a great opportunity to learn about trends, resources, and other good stuff outside of the specific frame of reference that is my own office and campus. We're hosting our own conference at MTSU in February, so this will also help me narrow down some parameters for content for that event. I'm excited to be going, and eager to learn.

At home Ken has had his sights on transforming the area that serves as his office (formerly the one-car garage) into a "den." The only real change to that space is the relocation of a recliner and sleeper sofa to its midst. We finally made that happen yesterday, and let's just say that I am glad to have it done and behind us. The dogs love having a comfy space to hang out with Ken when he's in that room, and the living room finally has a chance to reclaim its identity without excess stuff filling it up.

So those are the highlights at my end. What's new with you?

1 comment:

The Bug said...

Whew! I was wondering where you had gotten to - sounds like you have been really busy.

Planning events is really tricky - even if people tell you what they want maybe they didn't really mean it, or didn't want it on that day or that time. Hopefully you can get it sorted out.

Have fun in Indy!

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