Sparkly Fish

Yesterday was "F" day at Ms. Pam's house, and so the kiddies made fish. Ms. Chrissy said that LB was very much into the sparkly tinsel. The fish actually had more tinsel and more stickers on it when I picked LB up from daycare, but the young lady likes to deconstruct her artwork on the ride home from Pam's, which means I'm always picking bits of crafts, paper, and stickers up out of the car. No problem. At least she has learned not to eat said artwork.

Yesterday, Pam said that LB may be ready for potty training! When she wakes up from her naps, LB's diapers are usually very dry (a sign of bladder control), so Pam's going to sit her on the pot after her naps, and I'll start doing the same at home.

It's very exciting, but really . . . where did my baby go? And where did this big girl come from?
A couple more photos from yesterday: enjoying bedtime-story time with Papa last night.

So things are good. No update on the job market. I'm working on another application today (Hartnell College in central California). There won't be many more jobs for me to apply to now because the job season is ending (i.e., the schools will be done hiring teachers to start this August / September for the coming academic year). If I don't get a job this year, I'll have to wait until December '11 / January '12 for the market to start up again when schools start hiring for the 2012-2013 academic year. At least I'll have more time these next few months to write since I won't have to worry about applying for jobs.

In other news . . . school started up again this week at UCR. I'm teaching one class--a class on argumentative writing. This is always my favorite class to teach, which may be a bit odd since I'm not a very argumentative or contentious person! But I am very interested in the rhetoric of arguments--the way arguments are structured and presented; the specific word choices individuals make to formulate their arguments--so it should be a good quarter of teaching.

In dissertation news . . . I did have a chapter due on Monday, but I didn't get it in. Between getting sick, finals' week, and prepping for my interviews, I just couldn't do it. My chair was very understanding and gave me an extension until April 11th. This isn't much of an extension, especially since I'm spending this week prepping for Monday's interview in Michigan. I get back from Michigan on the 5th, so I'll only really have 5-6 days to work on it. But. Whatever. The chapter already has about 18 pages. It will get done.

And I hear LB waking up from her nap . . .