pet peeves

So I have a lot (I may be easy to annoy) but these are the main two related to teaching:

1. Not following instructions. I didn't provide detailed instructions for nothing so the fastest way to irritate me is to not read/follow these instructions and then throw a fit when I take off points or refuse to grade it.

2. Getting emails that say "I'm not going to be in class tomorrow and was wondering if I'm going to be missing anything important". I so badly want to reply: "No, thanks for asking! I'm planning on having the other 50 people show up, waste about an hour of their time and then sending them home with nothing important. Enjoy your vacation!" Now I completely understand the intention of the email but this is NOT the way to word it!

Edited to add: Along with #2 goes the email that says "I missed class today and was wondering if I missed anything important".... "Nope, I noticed you weren't there so I stopped everything and anxiously awaited your return, of course!"

Ugh!

we're not dead

Mikel wanted to make sure everyone knew this.

Things have been rough here for the past few weeks. Nothing in particular but it's more "real-life school and work" and less "fun vacations with family".

Mikel went hunting last weekend and, although he didn't get anything, he had fun out with his friends. He is going again soon and definitely looking forward to it! Unfortunately, he doesn't generally take pictures so we have no visual documentation.

I have worked two more football games (vs. Notre Dame and Northern Colorado) and never fail to be astonished by how crazy the students are. The Notre Dame game is always a big ordeal here in East Lansing and this year it was a night game which made it even more special. It was a great game (but FREEZING in the stands) and we won on a fake field goal touchdown. The football team was ranked #25 this week after that game! Unfortunately, Mark Dantonio (our coach) had a heart attack after the game which is obviously really scary. He's doing fine now and "recovering comfortably" or something like that. They won yesterday against a much inferior Northern Colorado team and were able to work out some kinks without him on the sidelines; hopefully he is ok and can get back to action soon!

This is from the game yesterday... this is the 40th anniversary of the Alumni Band at MSU and they played along with the current Spartan Marching Band at halftime...

I also have continued to work with volleyball which I definitely enjoy! I got to travel on a day trip to Toledo and see how the team travels! Here's a picture from practice in the University of Toledo's recently renovated gym. It was beautiful!!

Toledo has proven to be a dangerous team but MSU took care of them in straight sets. This weekend they opened Big Ten play this weekend in the Breslin Center (where basketball generally plays) and went 1-1.

Teaching has been great-- lots of grading and prep work but I like being in front of the class so I'll take it! My freshman have their first exam this week so I guess that will tell me how class has gone this far! I've also gone to a couple of really good seminars put on by the graduate school here at MSU about things like finding a job and the different types of universities!

Other than that, Mikel and I are looking forward to a visit from Josh in a couple weeks! He's been out here a couple times and we love his visits!

Whew! Another week down!

Time is flying back and I've been criticized critiqued on my blog updating skills encouraged to provide an update. Well, we survived the first week of school and I think it's going to be a good semester. I have two classes-- one is filled with freshman and the other is all seniors; it's entertaining to see the huge difference in their approaches to the first week of school. My freshman are all little stress balls. They are in class 20 minutes early, have their books out, come up and introduce themselves to me, not to mention that they are all dressed up in their first-day-of-school outfits. The seniors on the other hand, roll in at the last minute, get irritated by the idea of calling roll, ask if they REALLY need to buy the text, and are in a sweatshirt and ponytail (looking like it was a gift that they changed out of their sweatpants). Not all of them fall in these categories but the vast majority do. It will all even up in a couple weeks. For now, I'm playing into the fear of college and having high expectations of my freshman; it's so nice to have students that prepared for class!!

As for volleyball, they had a good weekend in Hawaii and I haven't let them forget that I was here in the rain while they were on the beach! They are back home again here and just beat a good Clemson team tonight. Two more games tomorrow! Another plus-- they give me free food! I went to pre-game meal with them and ended up with practically a catering tray full of rice, chicken, and green beans... delicious!!

I also got the opportunity to work the first football game with my Breslin center staff so that was fun! Mikel is planning on going hunting next weekend with his friend Matt and he's super excited. There's talk of bows and trail cams and tree stands and if I knew what any of the talk really meant I shared more but alas, I don't!

As for the weather, it's been getting a little chillier around here. Highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s and 50s. Hopefully we'll have a little more warm weather because it becomes fall and then winter (also known as the evil season).

Anyways, blogging reminds me that we need to take more pictures so hopefully we'll find a new adventure soon!