I stopped taking my anti-depressants seven weeks ago to see if I really needed them. I began them almost ten years ago when I started have thoughts of suicide. A few years later the Lexapro stopped working and I lost interest in most everything and wanted to sleep all the time. My therapist Fonda noticed the change and got me into Dr. Harwood. I got my meds sorted out but after years of being an easy patient, I wondered if I still needed them so I stopped. So far so good. I haven't had any bad blue days and I still have lots of interests. I'm a little more joyful at times and today a bit serious. The biological imperative has gotten stronger though.
Mid-term is next week and I am right where I want to be in biology but I am a week behind in physical science. I finish astronomy this next week and then onto rocks! I may never make it to weather. They have turned room 224 into a physics lab. It has some beautiful benches, a front lab desk and soon electrical outlets. Good news for bio since we could use it if there is ever a lab conflict.
I spent several hours Thursday afternoon and Friday morning revising the Spring semester schedule for Abbie and me. I worked it out so Abbie could teach A&P I as a traditional course instead of as a hybrid. I finally understood why Abbie teaches so many hybrids. Her family demands and commute from Greenville are complicated. I hope Mary Ann goes for it because it accomodates Abbie and is 100% better for our students.
I had one major faux pas this week. I had scheduled a stargazing activity for Tuesday night. I had checked the weather channel forecast the previous night and it said Tuesday night would be cloudy. I checked it Tuesday morning and it had changed to clear. Well, I went out at 4PM to calibrate the telescope and the clouds came in. At 5 I decided to cancel so I send a teacherease email out to my students. Kind of a late notice but I hoped they would spread the word. I put a note on the door just in case. I felt terrible. I should have warned them when I announced it to check their emails for any unforseen changes.
I finally got an expectorant for my cough and it seems to have helped. I have also been enjoying a beer during my evening shower. So far I've been drinking Miller High Life and last night I had a Sam Adams. No heartburn yet but man mix that with a antihistamine and reading before bed is impossible.
On my drive up the Montgomery yesterday I popped in my new Mark Knopfler CD Privateering. It is a double album. I haven't liked his last three albums so my hopes weren't too high for this one. I was pleasantly surprised. I could hear his old styles from Brothers in Arms, Golden Heart and Ragpicker's Dream plus some more blues-driven stuff.
After my appointment with Dr. Harwood, I bought some new underwear and socks (real exciting) at Target, ate a veggie burrito at Moe's (next time I am ordering a bowl of chili con queso), and bought dog food and dog bones at Earth Fare. They are great big cow cannon bones (toe bones) that Mr. B and Lucy girl love to chew the ends off. Basil was so thrilled when Susan gave him one. He pranced around and would come up to us to show it off. He whittled it down in no time.
The season premiere of Big Bang Theory started Thursday. We have it Tivoed but haven't found the right moment to watch it. So far I have enjoyed only two new shows this season: Go On and Ben & Kate. I tried the New Normal and the Mindy Kaling Project. Too preachy and too awful. Why does everyone in TV need a prestigious occupation? Why not just retail drone, office minion or service worker? After the pilot, the job part disappears pretty quickly.
We watched the season premieres of The Middle and Modern Family. Although Modern Family gets all the awards, the Middle is a much better show. The first episode of the Middle was excellent and went deep right off the bat into the family dynamic. I keep thinking about Axl playing college football. What a waste of college scholarship! He hates academics. I wonder if Frankie or Mike ever went to college? Probably not. Party on Garth!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
BBQ and Froyo
Today is the Autumnal Equinox and Summer is over. The Earth will be tilted away from the Sun for the next 6 months. It is time to get pasty people!
Basil and Lucy, or as I like to call her, Lemon Drop, just got me up from a food-induced nap. They are an hour early for their trek to the golf course. LD is particularly persistent using her sharp claws to poke you. Susan and I had a nice lunch at Green's BBQ just north of us in Gantt, Alabama. In a role reversal, I ordered a BBQ sandwich and onion rings off the menu while Susan hit the buffet. The BBQ was excellent and though I know better, the onion rings are great but rough off on the stomach. Susan got her fill of fried okra (I don't get the appeal myself), maters, slaw, tater salad, and scalloped taters.
Ms. Susan needed to drop off some donations at goodwill and afterward we hit the new froyo place on the square. I got lemon ice box with graham cracker sprinkles (very good) and Susan opted for strawberry with fresh strawberry. We walked around the square for a bit, staring into the old CCB building, Wards, and Timmerman building. I discovered that the Timmerman building is built of fossiliferous limestone. I found some beautiful bryozoans embedded in it.
On the drive home a katydid hitchhiked on my window. Susan tried to take a photo of it through the glass but the camera kept focusing on the landscape behind. I enjoyed watching to breathe through it s thorax and first few ab segments. We dropped it off in Susan's favorite neighborhood.
One more week of September left. I am on stars right now in PHS 111 so I will need to repair the telescopes if I am going to take them out this week. Like an idiot I discovered that we have missed the evening planet window. If you want to see Jupiter you gotta wait until the early AM. Saturn just moved to days entirely. Just the moon and stars are on tap this semester. I invented a constellation lab and tried it out Thursday. I kept wondering why the planispheres didn't match the website printout I had used. Shane the idiot thought 19 hours was 9 PM. Nope, it is only 7 so my students were struggling. I forged ahead acting like nothing was wrong. I've got to admit my error on Tuesday.
The biological imperative has been extremely persistent of late. I don't know if it is normal or due to my brain becoming med-free. It is going to get me in trouble. I am sure the BD wish from Surfbabe hasn't helped. Party on Garth!
Basil and Lucy, or as I like to call her, Lemon Drop, just got me up from a food-induced nap. They are an hour early for their trek to the golf course. LD is particularly persistent using her sharp claws to poke you. Susan and I had a nice lunch at Green's BBQ just north of us in Gantt, Alabama. In a role reversal, I ordered a BBQ sandwich and onion rings off the menu while Susan hit the buffet. The BBQ was excellent and though I know better, the onion rings are great but rough off on the stomach. Susan got her fill of fried okra (I don't get the appeal myself), maters, slaw, tater salad, and scalloped taters.
Ms. Susan needed to drop off some donations at goodwill and afterward we hit the new froyo place on the square. I got lemon ice box with graham cracker sprinkles (very good) and Susan opted for strawberry with fresh strawberry. We walked around the square for a bit, staring into the old CCB building, Wards, and Timmerman building. I discovered that the Timmerman building is built of fossiliferous limestone. I found some beautiful bryozoans embedded in it.
On the drive home a katydid hitchhiked on my window. Susan tried to take a photo of it through the glass but the camera kept focusing on the landscape behind. I enjoyed watching to breathe through it s thorax and first few ab segments. We dropped it off in Susan's favorite neighborhood.
One more week of September left. I am on stars right now in PHS 111 so I will need to repair the telescopes if I am going to take them out this week. Like an idiot I discovered that we have missed the evening planet window. If you want to see Jupiter you gotta wait until the early AM. Saturn just moved to days entirely. Just the moon and stars are on tap this semester. I invented a constellation lab and tried it out Thursday. I kept wondering why the planispheres didn't match the website printout I had used. Shane the idiot thought 19 hours was 9 PM. Nope, it is only 7 so my students were struggling. I forged ahead acting like nothing was wrong. I've got to admit my error on Tuesday.
The biological imperative has been extremely persistent of late. I don't know if it is normal or due to my brain becoming med-free. It is going to get me in trouble. I am sure the BD wish from Surfbabe hasn't helped. Party on Garth!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Virus Defense Mode
I woke up with a head cold yesterday so I didn't work or drive Montgomery for my quarterly appointment with Dr. Harwood (he's my psychiatrist who manages my depression meds). I spent most of it sleeping, sneezing and coughing in between hits of nyquil, advil and sudafed. Today I am mostly just coughing. My back is pretty sore from laying around so much.
American Airlines, after a month, found and Fedexed my bag. It was a complete surprised. I had filed a claim and was just sitting around waiting for my check when it showed up on my doorstep Thursday morning. I had replaced a few things but I was so happy to see my favorite shirts, pants and underwear. The best part were all the cool things I bought at Capitol Reef National Park: geo maps, t-shirts, postcards and a book on rock art for Susan.
Two women basketball players came by on Thursday to tell me they were from now on going to be respectful and work hard in class. I had made the mistake of threatening to talk to their coach earlier in the day. I still wonder what brought it on but I was very touched.
My first exams in bio are this coming week. It is always bittersweet. I made the mistake of looking at my afternoon 103 scores from spring semester to see how many passed: only one-third. Should I share the news? Tough call.
American Airlines, after a month, found and Fedexed my bag. It was a complete surprised. I had filed a claim and was just sitting around waiting for my check when it showed up on my doorstep Thursday morning. I had replaced a few things but I was so happy to see my favorite shirts, pants and underwear. The best part were all the cool things I bought at Capitol Reef National Park: geo maps, t-shirts, postcards and a book on rock art for Susan.
Two women basketball players came by on Thursday to tell me they were from now on going to be respectful and work hard in class. I had made the mistake of threatening to talk to their coach earlier in the day. I still wonder what brought it on but I was very touched.
My first exams in bio are this coming week. It is always bittersweet. I made the mistake of looking at my afternoon 103 scores from spring semester to see how many passed: only one-third. Should I share the news? Tough call.
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