Thaw before reheating.
{ Monthly Archives }
Will has been fighting off a runny nose for a few days. Today it seems his runny nose won.
I have been in allergy hell for about a week. It’s progressing into headache, tummy crud, and sore throat. (I’ve got an appointment with an allergist on Monday.)
Paul isn’t complaining about anything in particular, but isn’t at full capacity either.
This is turning into a sick house.
– Cheese sandwich. A thin spread of mayo keeps the bread and cheese stuck together. We used to cut off the crust, but not anymore.
– Fruit: usually grapes (uvas) or apple
– Goldfish or graham crackers
– Raisins, occassionally.
– A small freezer pack (from my breast pump) to keep things cool until lunch time.
– Packed in Paul’s old Proquest lunch snack, with Will’s name taped on the side. (One of these days we’ll have to get him an Elmo or Rolie Polie Olie lunch box.)
No crying when I dropped Will off today at school! Not that he was particularly joyful (he called out, “Mommy?”) but there was no break down and crying. We’re actually getting better at this, thank goodness!
I finished my advanced biostats review problems and now have to move into making review sheets… which I am dreading. I had envisioned this part of exam prep to be the easiest… but really, it is proving to be the hardest. How do you succintly sum up so much? I’m feeling overwhelmed by it all.
The city is inspiring me to wonder… is there voodoo for comprehensive exams? Maybe a doll to inspire committee members to write easy questions? A charm to help me quickly find the proper formula in my notes?
Head to toe in frilly yellow, she swayed in front of Wal-Mart, parasol in hand, greeting the Mobile area shoppers. In the flesh: a Dogwood Trail Maiden.
I had to look up the actual name when I got back to my parents. I have a hard time remembering “Dogwood Trail Maiden” and have called them “Magnolia Misses,” “Azalea Girls,” “Confederate Princesses,” and “Plantation Roses.” I don’t think that any of my names are all that bad, but apparently, messing up the title of a Dogwood Trail Maiden is a serious no-no in these parts. I’ve learned to simply ask about the local girls’ “Scholarship contest.”
I have a hard time with the Dogwood Trail gig. So what if they might be able to get a few bucks? They have to dress up in ridiculous antibellum gowns, carry parasols, and act like rejects from Gone With the Wind. Scarlett O’Hara would have never acted so demure and docile. Something about all of it makes me feel that the real purpose and intent has nothing to do with giving girls a scholarship opportunity.
Truly, I don’t want to be hard on these girls. But I’ve learned some insider things about the Dogwood Trail (having a family friend who is an organizer and whose daughter was THE actual Dogwood Queen — and having a father who served as a judge in the last pageant.)
— The pageant is overwhelmingly white. The few girls of color who participate (in my opinion) are just there so that the organizers can claim a blind eye to the issues of race and privilege weaved through the event.
— The pageant is overwhelming rich. These are private school girls.
— The pageant, although claiming to be about intelligence, poise, speaking skills, and talent, is about being pretty. (I have it from the inside that judges shockingly discuss issues of beauty — size, skin, height, weight, hair and eyes — as key aspects of their judging tally, and that these were viewed as much more important than academic records, presentation, speaking skills, and poise.)
And so I ask. Do boys get paraded about in ridiculous clothing? Why do we torture young women and teach them to like it?
So, there she was. A Dogwood Trail Maiden. Selling the Dogwood Trail calendar (12-months of the girls in various poises amongst the magnolia and azaleas), smiling sweetly to all who passed. (I’ve actually seen the calendar up close. It’s terrifying.) I couldn’t look at her, she looked absurd. Plus, the risk of me saying something like “wasn’t Halloween last week?” was too great.
Dogwood Trail Maidens. Honestly. I mean, HONESTLY.
When: Sunday, November 20th. (I was thinking Saturday, but Paul likes Sunday?)
Where: our neighbors’ driveways
What: “play date” theme. I’ll set up a kid’s level table with different colors of play-doh and a ton of tools to play. Kids can run around front yards and play at the table.
Who: mostly adults, a few kids from the neighborhood
Extra Fun: Paul and some friends from juggling club will juggle and unicycle
Questions: Time?? Will naps around lunch time (11-1; 12-2 ish). Emily, his closest playfriend, naps at 2:30. If we do it later in the evening (3-5) do we need to provide a more dinner-ish menu? We could borrow a neighbors grill and grill out…? Suggested kid-friendly menu? Time thoughts? Other activities?
Will looks better today. He still is basically covered with slightly raised red welts, but they are much more faded today and not nearly as severe in coverage. He remains happy and wild.
Fun new phrases: “go outside,” “let’s go!” “want juice/agua/fishies/uvas,” “thank you, Mommy,” “go night-night”
After the events of yesterday morning, I began to tackle the first and longest set of Biostats (ie: Intermediate Biostats/Advanced Eval/Regression/Logistic Regression) comprehensive exam questions. I have been feeling good about everything so far, especially after getting an email “thumbs up” on my survey/sampling/M&E questions set from a professor. Then I started on these questions. I discovered that I cannot transfer multi-level dummy variables to specific regression equations and that simple probability questions can reduce me to a puddle of mush. Paul, thankfully, was able to pull me up with some probability help (even he was surprised that there was something on the exam he could do) but when I asked him to look at another question he said, “Holly, I don’t even know what that word means.” *sigh* I have serious concerns about passing this part of the exam. I’m going to try to work through the next set and then send the two to my professor with questions. The good news is, the questions didn’t take me long, so maybe I can stop worrying about whether or not I will finish in time.
Today, Will and I are going to Mobile for the weekend. We’ve been needing to go back and get the rest of our things (ie: the cats). Paul has big home repair projects planned and my parents have plans to take Will out golfing on Saturday (to hit balls and then play nine holes if the course is clear!)
