Finals Week

Posted on April 30, 2013
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It’s hard to believe how fast time flies by: it was  just few weeks ago (or feels like it) when I was standing in front of my nearly 30 students introducing myself. And here we are only a few days short from congratulating new graduates, and submitting the final grades to the student management system… spring and graduates are sure sign of the summer, even in Alaska.

Today is the big day. To my students. I finished their final exam last night – 7 pages of tough questions to answer in 75 minutes. After getting done with the exam, I have been grading homework assignments and weekly exercises nearly non-stop the whole night. And more to go through still …. I know how I will spend my nights this week.

Teaching at UAA has been such a blast and blessing this Spring semester. My students have been awesome beyond awesome, and I am proud of every single one of them. While Computer Science is not always the easiest subject to figure out, they have been working really hard while figuring out the problems. And I have learned so much from them. Every course  I have been teaching at the university level has taught me new pedagogical skills, making me a better professor. I have grown together with my students. And I dare claim we have had a great time – well, at least I have had fun…. hopefully my beliefs about being an extraordinary professor won’t be crushed when the class reviews come in.

 

 

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Sunday Social: Childhood

Posted on April 28, 2013
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Time to link up with Ashley and Neely, it’s Sunday Social! If you want to join the fun as well, answer the questions and link up on one of the ladies’ blogs.

Did you sleepwalk as a child? Not that I can remember.

Did you ever try to run away or sneak out of your house? Nope, I did not.

Did you have any imaginary friends? I don’t remember of having imaginary friends but did have an imaginary horses. I was and am a horse girl.

Did you ever go toilet papering? Hasn’t everyone does this?! Yes, I have toilet papered the dog, just all kinds of random objects, ….

Did you ever sneak tv shows you weren’t allowed to watch? I think X Files was one of the shows I wasn’t allowed to watch, and more than once quietly sneaked to watch it. And did have nightmares about alien abductions.

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Saturday Sunshine

Posted on April 27, 2013
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IMG_6506_instantWhat a beautiful day it has been! Sun has been shining since the early morning, and days are getting warmer – even on the Last Frontier. Snow is melting, everywhere else but on the mountains as you can see on pictures. So we headed out to check out the running/skiing trails nearby. Despite my cold that apparently got worse this past week, thanks to all the flying I did.

It was a wonderful day. Hubby and the dog were goofing around while I was running. We had a great time, and made plans to return to Hatcher Pass in a few days – with snowshoes, or maybe with skis and skins, or snowboard. Some spring skiing & snowboarding sounds like a blast!

However, three miles were a joy, albeit really slow for someone running regularly 6:30 miles, and I am so hoping to feel better tomorrow. It’s hard to be fast when you have to cough or blow your nose way too often. But at the same time running shoes are so crying out loud my name, and begging to get out for a long run. And my Ironman training would greatly benefit from that too.

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P.S. The joy and surprise of the day came in the form of cheese today. After our outdoors stuff we ran some errands, including grocery shopping at the Commissary. More than one the Commissary has turned out to be a great place to find some tasty treats, such as Fazer Chocolate from Finland. And what did I see today?!? Bread Cheese. I haven’t seen the bread cheese since leaving Finland, which was like forever ago so no surprise, I was in heaven. Quick Google search also showed that Carr Valley Cheese ships this delicacy. Now I know where to find my bread cheese!

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Unaccompanied Baggage

Posted on April 26, 2013
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“You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” ~Frederick Buechner

It sure is PCS (Permanent Change of Station) season. Neighbors are putting their houses on the market, old neighbors are moving out, new ones in…. I have been hugging friends who are leaving, bidding goodbyes, and making sure we have each other’s email addresses and phone numbers. We promise to stay in touch. Moving is a part of military life. Every few years the families pick up their stuff, move somewhere new, and rebuild their life. Our roots are grounded in our hearts are, not in physical locations.

When I got home from meetings tonight, and walked in through the garage, it hit me. Of course I knew my husband’s unaccompanied baggage had been picked up by the military movers yesterday but since I was busy with the work, I didn’t really pay attention to it. There is a huge empty spot in the garage where a few hundred of pounds of hubby’s military gear and some random stuff were piled up for the movers. It’s reality that his 6-month long Army training is starting in a few short weeks.  And before his class, we will be doing a cross-country road trip from the Last Frontier to the East Coast.

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I Need a Break

Posted on April 25, 2013
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IMG_0552_instantIt has been another crazy busy week. Past two weeks have been full of traveling, again. First Chicago, and being stuck there for a couple of extra days, then other business trips this week. While flying has been literally painful for my ears, the views have been pretty neat. The other day a pilot flew between Mt McKinley, the highest peak in North America, and Mt Foraker, the sixth highest peak on the continent. I have seen, felt, smelled and touched McKinley a few times but seeing Foraker so close was a treat. And looking at the pictures I snapped makes me long for climbing, and now I have been toying with an idea of climbing Foraker this or next season. Time will tell but its Sultana Ridge route is faintly calling my name.

I got a cold while in Chicago – apparently I was slightly too hopeful about seeing nice spring weather, and tried to dress accordingly. Major. Failure. So now I have been coughing my lungs out for a few days, and blowing my nose like an elephant. In addition to feeling like my head would explode when airplane pressure changes at landings. Constant flying, speaking for hours either in front of my class or giving tons of work presentations are not helping to kick this sickness out.

In fact I feel pretty drained tonight. So tired that I decided to reschedule my personal training clients, and head home, sit on my fat butt and eat some split pea soup. I haven’t had a single piece of energy to run this week yet I am getting anxious and stressed about missing workouts. The vicious cycle of being sick and feeling guilty about not running is not helping on the road to recovery…. oh well, tomorrow I will entertain my personal training clients and try to run a couple of miles without collapsing on the sidewalk. Fingers crossed it works out!

But one more day to the weekend… I think I can do this. And then slow down a bit before finishing up grading my students’ work, and finishing up the final exam. Tuesday is The Test Day. I have greatly enjoyed teaching this semester, and actually feel a bit sad about the semester ending. It hit me today when I walked on the empty university hallways.

Mostly I have had awesome students who are working really hard for good grades. I am very proud of my students who have relentlessly tackled sometimes complicated topics for past 3.5 months, and I am excited about seeing their enthusiasm and curiosity growing. It’s fascinating to see the development of new university educated generation.

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