Wayne and Rebecca Madsen

I received a phone call while teaching a class from a number I didn't recognize, so I didn't answer it. I listened to the voice mail and learned that another school wanted to set up a phone interview with me. I noted this, but didn't get a chance to call back until late in the evening, wherein they gave me an impromptu phone interview. This reminds me that I haven't seen many adjunct positions this year.

It is interesting to note that the depressed economy has resulted in a lack of funding for smaller positions, but no major impact on full-time positions -- schools grow because during a recession because people go back to school when they lose their jobs, but the school itself doesn't have funding for extra help. Tenured professors have to take on larger loads.

We have difficulty committing to some major parenting challenges. As a result, we have been waffling on our dedication to do night toilet training for Paela. Back in late summer when we first picked up a couple of pottys from freecycle, Paela used them a few times and as a result we were so frightened we stopped doing any more potty-training.

She used them off and on for the next several months until we realized Rebecca was almost at the end of her maternity leave and we needed to take care of things before she went back to work. And it turned out to be much easier than we had feared. [though we almost gave up after half a morning. thankfully, we didn't, because Paela was ready to learn and waiting for us to be ready to teach] At least during the day. Night-training seems to be going the same way. She does just fine when we leave her in her 'dora pants' all night [at least the handful of times we have tried], but we just need to get up the courage to show her how to use the potty in her room in the middle of the night and then go back to bed.

Camilla met us for the Boston Science Museum. Through our public library, we could get discounted tickets. Through Camilla's library, we all got in for free: a $60 deal (possibly $80). Paela enjoyed the dinosaurs, and we tried to teach her some of the science behind the physics exhibits. How do you teach a two-year old about friction and gravity?

My students have difficulty synthesizing their work. This problem and their procrastination in the face of my consistent reminders proved to be the downfall of all their projects, resulting in the worst designed web-pages I've ever seen. I gave them options. One of them was that they complete everything I told them to do by the next class period and I would, personally, make them cookies and we'd look at what they had completed. Things were better by the next class period -- but pathetic high school bribery hardly seems a good tactic to take with students finishing their associate's degree.

Aderyn took a bottle three days in a row. It was only for three ounces at a time [but who really knows how much she eats when she nurses, anyway? -bec], but Rebecca was adamant about pointing out this minimal success in the hopes that it develops into a continuous increase in her ability to take the bottle when Rebecca is away. That would be nice for me. [a full baby is a much happier baby, after all... -bec] But Aderyn laughs more and likes to chew on her fingers. She also prefers to stand in her exersaucer -- which is just plain ridiculous. We laugh at that.