A New Fall Semester

I just finished my first week of teaching for this fall semester, and let me tell you, my numerous first-year students have exhausted me! I'm teaching two sections of PLS 103, Issues in World Politics, and I've never had so many first-year students in my fall classes. How is this different, you ask? Well, it's the numerous e-mails asking where to find the readings, how to find the on-line library course reserve, how to log onto Blackboard (our course website), and even to find the reading questions. Most of this is contained in my ever-so-lengthy syllabus (10 pages -- YIKES!), so I was surprised that so many students did not heed my warning given on the first day of class: "There's no such thing as a dumb question, unless the answer can be found in the syllabus."

So, I must resolve to maintain my patience and not get too exasperated at the first-year students, who are merely trying to find their way during their first week of college. Yet, they still must try to figure these things out on their own, right? I'm not that much of a hand-holder, so I've made a bit of a compromise: I posted a FAQs discussion board so students can post questions, and even fellow students can post answers, and I asked them to do so, to help me out. Hopefully this will reduce the number of e-mails in my Inbox.

On a better note, a student from Thailand with whom I worked very closely last semester gave me a cute little business card holder made of Thai silk, which was super sweet. And another student came by my office to chat with me about what he had read about Russia recently and told me that he was telling students to take my Russian politics class next semester. He's one of my best advocates, to make sure that I get enough students in that course so it won't get canceled.

In other words, it's all about keeping things in perspective, right? We tend to focus on the negative (or at least the annoying), while positive experiences are pushed to the background. That is my lesson learned this week, and I'll have to try to keep things in perspective, as I deal with the 100 students that I am to teach this semester. :-)

Speaking of the positive, tomorrow morning Mike and I are leaving for Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I'm hoping I will have beautiful photos to post in the near future!

Thanks Captain Obvious

This is a phrase I use all the time, so when I saw this at http://icanhascheezburger.com/ I laughed and laughed!

If you ever want to giggle a bit, take a look at this site. It makes me giggle every time, and it's not just me cracking myself up. It's the kitties!

Back in Black -- Evil Dictator Awards

I teach a class called Issues in World Politics, which is a 100-level course and usually has lots of first-year students and others who don't know that much about the politics of other countries. I was thinking of using this clip on the first day of class as an introduction to how learning about other countries may be fun. After all, it helps you get jokes and watch cool shows like The Daily Show!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=178665&title=Back-in-Black---
Evil-Dictator-Awards

Heather & Mike

As most of you probably know, I've been dating Mike for about 1-1/2 years now. We even went to France last year, when I was in Belgium doing research on the European Union. This is one of my favorite photos of him, particularly since it wasn't posed and because of the background. This was taken in Annecy, in the French Alps. We only spent one day here, but it left such a great impression on me that I'd love to spend an entire vacation there!

This photo was taken in Dijon, France, where we ran into (almost literally, it was not planned) my friend, Lyle. That was one of the most fun days and nights of the trip, because I had not spoken to Lyle for nearly two years, and here we were, having dinner and drinks in Dijon with Lyle!

Lyle and Mike seemed to get along quite well, especially when it came to making fun of me! :-)

This was at Mike's graduation in April 2008. He graduated with his MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan (brains and looks -- what a combo!), and his parents and friends from New York City even came to celebrate with him. It was a great day.

Mike's birthday was in July, and we went to The Whitney in Detroit, which is a 19th-century mansion converted into a restaurant. We ate in the library, which I thought was a perfect place for us! I asked the waiter to bring a little something when we ordered dessert, and Mike was surprised.

You can view additional photos of The Whitney at http://thewhitney.com/.

This is outside the Whitney. Now that Mike lives in Columbus, Ohio, I think it's a nice photo to have of Whit, the Tiger (of Detroit).

Kitties!

I have hundreds of photos of my kitties, and here are just a couple of my favorites. And don't worry -- just because the banner has kitties on it doesn't mean that this blog is just about kitties. I've got lots to say and tell, and maybe I'll have time to post stuff once school starts back up next week.

You probably already can tell that I am a bit of a cat fan. Well, it's not just that, but my cats pose really nicely for the camera, especially the brown tabby, Katya. Here she is in my bedroom closet.

And here's Anya, in a similar pose. You might think they don't like the camera, but...

But it's clear that Katya is posing here, loving the attention that she gets.

And she just loves to curl up in sinks or even the bathtub. My cats are definitely not afraid of water, and in fact, they even drink out of the sink and the bathtub, if I let them.

Even Annushka (a.k.a. Anya) has a little flirtation with the camera. Oh, she may be shyer, but don't let that fool you!

For whatever reason, this is a comfortable position for Anya, as I've found her like this on several occasions.

And of course, what kitty doesn't like to snuggle up with the clean clothes (or even dirty ones, for that matter) in the clothes basket??! This is a favorite spot for both of them.

Cabinet -- Finally Stained

I bought this cabinet 3 years ago, when I was living in an apartment in Heritage Hill (the historic housing district in Grand Rapids). When I bought it, I thought I would stain or paint it when I moved into my own house. Well, it took two years, but I finally did it!

Dining Room -- After

In the dining room, I added a mirror that Mike had given me. He just had it propped on a dresser, and it used to be white with gold trim. I painted it red, with white and sea green trim to match the valences. And of course, I hung it up, as you can see. I got to use my drill!

Living Room -- After

I'm pretty happy with the results, and hopefully these lively colors will help cheer me up during the long, cold, and dark Michigan winter.

Here's what the living room now looks like and the fireplace.

I painted the walls a light yellow, called "candlelit dinner." I also painted the ceiling (with a student's hired help), as it had previously been the same tan cream color as the walls. It's now a shade of "vanilla ice cream." This led me to tackling the valences, going from a sage green to more of a sea green. I finally took on the fireplace, and to provide a bit of a contrast, selected a color called "hot apple spice."

Summer House Projects -- Before

My friend, Sara, who has a really great blog, suggested that I post photos of my latest project. I really enjoy reading her blog and thought it might be fun to have one of my own. So, here it goes....my first post!

I've spent weeks livening up my living and dining rooms and the upstairs hall. Here are before photos. This is what my living room looked like when I first bought the house and moved in June 2006. I really didn't change much beyond moving plants around and putting photos on the decorative fireplace. The dining room was painted the same color, with the same color in the valences.