I had my first AI plagiarism case. It was so sad--the student cried three times during our conversation and told me about other horrible stuff that's going on in his life. I gave him some tissues and a hug and told him the process is going to be educative by the administrators and that I'm going to help him get through the rest of the class so he can graduate if he works hard and turns in his own work. I was about to cry. I'm at least happy that I know he won't get kicked out for this and that he can learn through it. 

Now as I'm reading other student papers, I'm absolutely delighted by their errors, because at least I know it's their own work!

The Week

The first frost. 

Last night we all got covid and flu boosters. 

Yesterday at noon, a headache kicked in that hasn't let up. Because I am the least flexible person in the world, I ignored it, which did not lead to a peaceful evening with my family. I went to sleep early and slept for a long time. Not sure what to do now. I don't feel like laying in bed and can work a bit. So ignore it? I am going to pause my latest medicine, which seems to be giving me several side effects. 
 

More STL and Back Home

After a lovely mass at the Cathedral Basilica on Sunday, we stopped for a wonderful jazz brunch. It was New Orleans themed--we had beignets, andouille sausage and biscuits, grits, and a cocktail in one more delightful meal. The jazz was really fun. A perfect ending. Then a long drive home. 

Monday: The boys came with me to tennis. They mostly watched stuff, but they also watched the tennis some, and told Francisco when we got home that I'm very good. Sweet boys. 

Tuesday: A fun day--I had a meeting with two colleagues over port and much laughter. One of the best meetings I've ever had. Then, staying late for a dinner, I spent impromptu time relaxing and laughing with two colleague office neighbors. Then, a fancy dinner (a little too much attention needed in the evening in my book) and a talk, which I attended with Francisco--kids on devices on a couch in the hall. Late night for all of us. I had EMDR in the work day--that continues to be a profitable therapy for me. I'm really pleased. 

More STL

On Saturday it was all City Museum all day. (For me and the boys--Francisco got a more interesting day at a book store, the library, and walking around different neighborhoods.) Between the morning City Museum and the afternoon City Museum, the whole family had some ridiculously delicious barbeque. The brisket was just perfect. (Is buttery a word you can use for brisket?) The sauce was great. The sweet potato fries were coated in brown sugar. As were the baked beans. It was a great feast. Afterward, we all had to rest at the apartment. (Oh, I guess we also had a neighborhood walk in the morning.)

How to describe the City Museum? A web of tunnels and caves and slides and fish that invite kids and teenagers and adults to adventure and explore? 

In the aquarium part, you can let these red garra nibble on your hands (a little scary because some of them are kind of big!).

Slides and tunnels and passageways everywhere. 

Smoke and lights to wade through. 

Real live gargoyles at work. 

The kids played hard all day. 

More STL

We took the kids to the zoo. The hippos and sea lions and seals, usually my favorite exhibits, were pretty calm that morning. 

But this parent and child wrestling and wrestling and playing were just delightful. I couldn't take my eyes off them. 

 

After a nice lunch at an old coffee shop Francisco and I liked to visit (outside in lovely weather), we headed back to the art museum. 

Above: The picture on the right is named after and references the picture on the left. 

Aquinas decimates Averroes; so funny. 

We enjoyed an exhibit of St. Louis's collection of art from the Works Progress Administration. 

Below: My favorite--a tent meeting from an influential Chicago Pentecostal church. 

We took a break for a post-card making activity. Mine, above. Blaze, below. He drew our family as ducks, swimming from the deep water to the shallow water. He apologized to brother that he doesn't know how to draw big kid ducks, just ducklings and adult ducks. He told the lady in charge that he's the duckling in the back because his brother "will always be four years older than me." 

He told me at another time that Q is "only a neck and a head taller than me." Adorable. 

We stopped at Ted Drewes and ate frozen concrete custard for dinner. Massive amounts. 

After we settled the kids in, I headed back to the art museum for a few minutes. The view at dusk was amazing. The couple in camp chairs above really know how to live. 

I love Horace Pippin. 

I spent aa little time thinking beside the fountain. 

STL

 

Spoilers: It was a totally wonderful fall break trip, but the airbnb was awful. 

We picked up the kids after school and drive right over to STL, stopping for fast-casual Indian on the way into town. 

Greeting us on the airbnb notice was a three-day abandonment notice, claiming the rental place would come in and take whatever property was there because the place had been abandoned. As we texted with the airbnb host, a--it turns out--compulsive liar, about the abandonment notice dated that day and which she claimed was old, we noticed that there was no internet. Then the building's control panel started freaking out and repeatedly beeping. She suggested we hit "silence." Then we double checked out smoke alarms since the control panel claimed that there was smoke in a storage room only to discover that none of the four smoke alarms in the apartment worked. We reached out to airbnb for a refund--they claimed they would call us and never did. At this point both boys were asleep, and I was nearly asleep, too. Francisco wanted to go somewhere else, but I just suggested we think more in the morning. Oh--also--everything smelled terrible--like it had all been drenched in febreeze or some other strong scent to cover up cigarette smell. The most terrible smell in all the sheets and blankets. I hate smells--and this smell was strong. Anyway, I love the neighborhood we were staying in and by the light of day figured that the abandonment order wouldn't kick in till the day we were leaving and probably some other apartment would have working fire alarms that would hopefully kick in if there was a fire? So we just lived with it, a cheap price in a perfect neighborhood. 

The next morning, while the kids entertained themselves on devices, which was the name of the game for us this break, and which was probably why it went so well, I walked to a grocery store and then to mass at the Cathedral Basilica in the next block. All delightful. 

I never really thought that the comic-book look to the mosaic, plus the browns was anything special. I've never really liked it. But now perhaps I'm used to it? I was enjoying the connection of Jesus's resurrection to Lazarus and Jonah and the grain of wheat falling into the ground to die (above). 

But the part I really love is the Tiffany chapels, especially the All Saints chapel's depiction of the virgins. Above and below. 

I also got two really good emails that morning--a wonderful invitation and an R and R for an article that had, I don't know, half a dozen? rejections. If I weren't so dearly attached to this article, I wouldn't care so much, but I think it's fabulous.  

Break

I'm always fascinated by the leaf prints in the fall on the light patches of sidewalk. 

We are half-way through the semester! 

Today I'm in the office working. And then vacation!

Last night was parent-teacher conferences--the teachers are great with our kids and it's wonderful to see them flourishing. Sometimes it's nice to focus on what's not hard about parenting. 

Still listening to the book about trauma. It captures so much of what I experience--tiny little things send me into an emergency-mode--things that aren't an emergency. When I'm around my kids, who are bouncing around, I'm very frequently in this emergency mode--it's painful to be revved up and on high alert for long periods of time. My mind knows I'm no longer in an emergency, but my body is stuck in it. I'm really hopeful that EMDR will be better than talk therapy for working to recalibrate my physical responses. (Because these bodily responses are really intense, I also dull my perception of everything so that I can survive them. This means that I really have no idea what I'm feeling most of the time--I've dulled my perceptions and diminished my attention to my emotions. The book says I need to become reconnected with my body and my emotions.)

For dinner last night I made up a squash and pasta and beans dish. So so good. Would have been better if I had pureed the squash more, but I was lazy. 

The Week

Yesterday was a dizzying progression of activities. Today I am celebrating making it to the middle of the semester!

EMDR yesterday, so I was feeling emotional fatigue. That continues to be good, though. 

Oh--I've been listening to The Body Keeps the Score. It's amazing to hear about all these physical things that I've experienced and understand them better, but it's also emotionally draining. 

Oh--we sent Q to the library himself yesterday--he returned books and checked one out again. We were all a little nervous, but he succeeded!

Oh--and Blaze spent a long time last night reading out loud in creative places (it was his homework). He hasn't read before without me beside him, so it was delightful to hear him sounding words out while under the dining room table. 

The Week

I always enjoy the vine on the outside of our garage window, but the truth is, it's probably eroding the bricks and should probably be pulled down. I'll put it in my planner. House maintenance never ends. It's like feeding children.

What do I have to say? I'm doing a little editing for myself, which gives me pleasure.  After tomorrow, we will have hit the middle of the semester! I'm not dead yet. That feels like a really big accomplishment. Last night was tennis: We lost, but it was the tie breaker after being 6-6, so I didn't feel terrible. Today is EMDR. This weekend is STL--we're really looking forward to that. Francisco and I are thinking a lot about parenting. 

I love teaching so much. I love it every single day and am just so grateful to be in the classroom. My intro class asks better questions than any intro class I've taught before. My 300-level APT class is primarily seniors--they laugh at all my jokes, which is the opposite of how this student body usually behaves. I think I like them more than any class I've taught before. When I gave a midterm yesterday, one student pretended to not know it was the midterm for a laugh. A real delight. 

 

The Weekend

On Saturday we took a little hike at a state park. The weather was lovely. We rested by the creek--the boys played in the mud, then Q forced us all to try a corn-hole-like game that he invented. 

After that we headed straight to the church fundraiser, which focused on tacos--it's amazing to see the transition from when we first arrived and it was a dying all-white (and white haired event). I wondered how it could persist when no one is interested in it. Now it is lively and brings together the different demographic groups that make up our church. A great improvement. Someone bought our dinners, which was embarrassingly kind. The boys loved riding the mechanical bull, Blaze loved the bouncy house, and the pinatas were the absolutely highlight: All the kids dove on the candy in a frankly terrifying pile. (Also I repeatedly pulled the boys back to leave room for the person swinging a long stick, and Blaze was still hit in the head pretty good.)

On Sunday, we had two colleagues and their young child over for a brunch feast. The little one really loved our cars. It was fun to have a toddler around.