the world is your acorn

The Little Red-Haired Girl and I learn from our mistakes. When her grandpa so generously bought us a new grill (after it had been stolen from our driveway here in Nashville), we went out and bought some chain to lock it to the fence. What we did not anticipate, however, was that our ever-so-reliable carpenters (the same ones who didn’t bolt the dishwasher into the countertop, who installed a doorbell without batteries, who painted our windows shut and then broke our blinds prying them open, who regularly call to say they are on their way and then show up 3 hours later, who fixed a roof leak over our pantry without putting any tarp over our food, yeah – same guys) would tear down the fence without letting us know, thereby leaving our grill free to travel.

Thanks, guys. Another job well-done.

So my exam ended about 9.5 hours ago, but all kinds of unexpected things have happened since then. First, I went out to lunch with Everything Guy and Mischief Man. We hit SATCO for cheap lunch and a bucket of beers to celebrate finishing our first exam. I’m not going to lie, I could have sat out there all day chatting and sipping away. Everything Guy, being Everything Guy, was the voice of reason though, and we did not get a second bucket.

Back in my pod I did about five minutes worth of work before getting into a silly conversation with my advisor’s kid, who is 9 and hilarious. I ended up doing a jigsaw puzzle with her until The Little Red-Haired Girl called.

Apparently The Museum is lending out a statue to some ladies’ club, and The Little Red-Haired Girl had asked Everything Guy and Mischief Man to help move it. So I rode my little bike out there to watch (since I’m too wussy to actually help). It was my first time in The Museum; it was so amazing to see the space that The Little Red-Haired Girl is all kinds of responsible for. I felt very impressed with and proud of her. I also got to meet her boss, who I’d heard a lot about.

After all the moving happened we went out for dinner with the boss and her husband, which turned into two hours of laughing our asses off.

Great day, though unproductive. Worth it though, for sure. I may be hungover from drinking two beers at lunch.

Today when I put on my jeans, I was surprised by the presence of a button fly. I was a little preoccupied though, and figured I just forgot that my pants had a button fly. It wasn’t until I was trying to get my keys that I realized I put on the wrong jeans. These are tight women’s sized pants. So uncomfy to ride my bike in. By then it was too late to change. I have been picking a wedgie all day.

I have an exam today. I haven’t had an exam in years. Actually, take that back, I had exams in my Teaching Algebra class a couple springs ago, but those didn’t really count for anything. I also had GRE’s, which were a stressful event. Today is stats. I don’t know why it is stressing me out; I normally don’t really care about grades. I bumble along in class, trying to learn as much as possible, and if my learning happens to coincide with what the instructor is looking for, then hurray. Maybe that is why my transcript is so crappy.

Stats is different though, because I think it’s important that I do learn all the things on the instructor’s list. There is less subjectivity, and the concepts are a lot more concrete than non-math and -science classes. I guess that is something that I need to think about more as someone who studies math education.

Anyway, I’ve studied for this exam. Maybe I’m caring so much because I’m supposed to be a math person, so I feel I ought to do well. Or maybe it’s because, for the first time, I have a real understanding about when and how I’m going to be using what I’ve learned, and it is important to get it right. Something else I’ve gotta think more about, I guess. Better go do some last minute review!