Oh, how having a family can change your priorities...

As I was putting together my CV for this course (of which much of it was already written) I realized how empty my activities have been for the past couple of years. At one point I had driven myself to near insanity with the amount of campus organizations I was involved with, on top of classes and research. Although I have still been active in my lab, the majority of my other activities came to a grinding halt when I had my son almost two years ago. I am left to wonder how this will be looked at by future schools or employers. Although my reasons for slowing down are valid, they will only see the paper existence of me and any assumptions they choose to make will be out of my hands. While I may have the opportunity to discuss my life in greater detail in an interview, I still wonder how I will be viewed. Many mothers are capable of not missing a beat even when they are being awoken at all hours of the night and may have missed showering for a couple of days unbeknownst to them. But for me that was not the case. I chose to walk away, if for no other reason than to keep myself from driving off of the Willis Bridge. And, while I am getting back to that place of multi-tasking bliss, I will never be as ambitious (or maybe just as insane) as I was previously. I presume that I will end up just fine and that my perceptions of myself are much harsher than those of anyone else. And, maybe that paper existence of myself is no more important than my son's baby book which has also been put in the corner until I have time to get to it.

Meet the Teacher Night

My 14 year old son started high school at Norman North last week and tonight was "Meet the Teacher Night." For most parents this is a fairly laid back and informal event, but for myself this is the first of many meetings I will likely have throughout the year. My son is on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) due to a long time struggle with behavioral issues and this has kept him from the high level of scholastic achievement that he is very capable of. My goal tonight was to make it known that I want to be as involved as possible with his progress and that, unlike many parents, I want to be contacted as regularly as possibly to ensure that I am fully informed. The most interesting visit of the night was with his Biology teacher who is apparently the former head coach of the football team. At one point or another we all had a coach as a teacher and from my experience they were pretty uninterested about actually teaching. My initial impression as I walked into the classroom was that he was the typical coach; big, brawny and quite brash. However, after speaking with him I got the feeling that he actually might be the perfect fit for my son. He does care about the students learning, does not accept a lack of effort and most striking was that he does not like to correspond with parents through e-mail. He is one of the few who feels that e-mail is too impersonal and would rather talk by phone or simply set up a face to face meeting. From my experiences over the past few years it seems that most teachers are too overwhelmed with the number of students that they have and simply have a lack of interest in building relationships with the parents, so I was thrilled to see this from someone who I initially perceived in a more negative way. I was also excited about the classroom setup, as the lab equipment is all present in the actual classroom (very different from when I was in high school). Now, if I could only get my son as interested in science as I am I think this could be a very good year for him!

Cooking is a science...

I use to really hate cooking. Probably because I was not very good at it. A home cooked meal was a tasty box of Hamburger Helper or, on a really good night, I might get lucky and pull off a crock pot roast. Over the past few years I have become somewhat more domesticated and my cooking has greatly improved (which occasionally is still not saying much!). Tonight I attempted a new recipe and, unfortunately, it did not work out so well. It became one of those dishes that ends up being sprinkled with some salt, pepper and, in this case, creole seasoning just to have some recognition of flavor. It was during that desperation to create something edible that I realized how much of a science cooking really is. For example, in a chemistry lab you can mix together a handful of different chemicals, but if you do not know how they interact it can be a disaster. It is no different in the kitchen. Certain things work together and others do not. Yet, now I can think back on all of those organic chemistry experiments that did not go well either, so maybe I just cannot follow a recipe.........

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water......

Yesterday afternoon I packed up the kids and headed for Lake Texoma. In addition to working at the Biological Station all summer I have been the fill-in bartender at Pelican’s Landing at Cedar Mills Marina during the busy season. Bartending was my full time job several years ago before I went back to school, so it has been fun to revisit that temporarily. My boyfriend, Brian, has worked there for about 5 years and drives down every weekend (we have a little place to stay next door to his parents).

All summer I have been watching as the sandy beaches along the shoreline have expanded farther and farther out in the water due to the drought. The tow boats have been busy, boat after boat becoming stuck on sandbars that would normally be too deep to cause a problem (a HUGE 58 foot yacht was beached for a week before being pulled out and severely damaged). Marinas are recommending that owners remove their boats from the slips or risk them being stuck as the water continues to drop. Needless to say the heat, along with the dropping water levels, has impacted business around the lake.

It was not until I arrived at the marina around 5pm yesterday that I learned of the blue green algae alert issued just hours before. The Army Corps of Engineers issued warnings that prohibit body contact with the water from Treasure Island all the way west to the Red River. The rest of the lake is on alert also and contact is discouraged. From the second I walked into the restaurant customers were eager to ask me about the situation knowing that I work at the Biological Station. The main question that everyone had was if it was actually dangerous or if this was an overreaction to nothing. I was able to explain the situation and fortunately most people have heeded the warnings. Unfortunately, this has caused most people to head home and has only made a bad situation worse.

Still, there are those who assume that because they cannot see the problem that it must not exist. Today there were parents pulling children on tubes behind boats in water that is considered dangerous. Although there will always be those who feel invincible, I see this as a failure on the part of the Army Corps and the media to effectively communicate the proper information to the public. This is similar to the situation at Grand Lake over the 4^th of July weekend when the same warnings were issued and emergency rooms filled up with people who ignored the warnings and went swimming anyway. Somehow the national and even local news can find the time to describe Kim Kardashian’s wedding dress in vivid detail, but when it comes to an issue of public health there is little more than a two sentence passing thought. I should go on to say that this is not only a defect of the media but also a reflection of the priorities of our society.

I will continue to keep my children and myself out of the water as I have done all summer. No algae for me. But, if by some chance of fate bull sharks make it into the lake, I will be the first one here!!!!

I need a vacation....

I cannot believe the semester is starting already! It feels like the summer went by in a blink. Yet, I am pretty excited about this class, mostly because I truly enjoy writing of all kinds and partially because I need to bring back some structure to my schedule after the chaos of the past couple of months. Even though I was at the lake for the majority of the summer it was pretty much all work and no play. So, bring on the fall, football, baseball and hopefully some really awesome writing!!!