Halloween around the corner >:-0

It' s around the corner... boooooo!
I love the Fall with the many colors of trees embelishing our neighborhood. From dark green, all shades of red and brown, to translucent yellow. Some trees look like big torches giving their light under the gloomy sky. But the evenings are so different now with the many spooky decorations. Pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and Vampiers...

I am like a ghosts myself my nights are longer and longer... Last night I went to bed at 3AM. What a weekend... I am supposed to be happy for the weekend and I start dreading it, knowing I have so much to catch up and never get it all done... then something always is postponed to the next week.

My students start slowly to post their literature review on their blogs. Even though I told them please do not e-mail me that you made a post, I can see it through Bloglines...
It's interesting that they think if it is online I am 24/7 online also and give them feedback in the moment they post it.... if I don't then they send me an e-mail.
I am a lot online in the weekends and check my bloglines at least four times every day and give them feedback. Today I spend more then 5 hours just giving them feedback and checking the Blackboard postings also. I promissed myself that I won't give so detailed feedback, it is so much time spent on that... but I see they struggle. The interesting is that they think and perceive this as my responsibility, even though in other classes they turn in the final projects and are graded on the final product never ever receiving feedback throughout the process.

I am almost half way through my situated cognition project with 4th and 5th graders. Must revise an article, write one more, read a lot because I am behind my readings, finish all my C++ assignments in time, and next week I will have a C++ lab exam.

My house is a mess... (I think it is only in my eyes; might be other people would not see it that way, but I hate all papers all over in the house). I neglect Taylor, we take shorter walks, and her training is neglected also, poor Taylor. It's getting so cold around here and I hate cold! Next week the high will be in the mid 50sF. Brrrr....
I miss the warm Fall in Tucson. I wish I live on a ranch in Texas, or New Mexico, or Arizona, or California... OK, I would choose California :-)
...but till then I'll get back to my chores!

Happy spooky Halloween!
Make sure you get some garlic in your pockets :-0

Fall snow

No, these are not pictures from last winter! My friends in Buffalo , NY have sent me these pictures after the big snow fall on October 13th, 2006. They were left without power for three days, in dark and cold winter. Their power is back, heated houses again...

I was wondering which is worse? The big snow fall in October or our tornado in July?
The same lack of power, complete darkness in the nights... Summer with spoiled food (in the winter at least the cold keeps the food fresh). What is worse: 38F in the house or 88F?
To put all the clothes on to keep warm or take all them off to cool down :-)

Neither is better. We only realize how important is to have the normal conditions when we loose them... And we realize how comfortable is our normal only when we loose it.
I was telling a firend here that I grew up with no shower and toilet in the home. We used to have a portable bath tub that we could bring in the middle of the room, filled with warm bubbly water, and the toilet house was outside (so we made sure we use it evenings before going to bed, especially in the winter). I was in 5th grade when we moved in our new home with real bathroom and a toilet in the bathroom. Since we have a private weel, in draught we have to be very careful with how we use the water, so showers are army style, quick and short on water consumption.

It's so easy to get used to all commodities of a warm, lighted, heated or air conditioned house :-)

The snow as the rain and wind can do similar damages. I am glad my friends are all safe and sound, no house damages, but many trees were lost under the heavy snow.

JRT Fun Day

Taylor and her friends Morgan, and Max had lots of fun Sunday at the Purina Farms.
They had fun digging in the tunnel for the little rat (Max seems more interested in that activity). And also they enjoyed running for the lure (here Morgan was the big surprise, he really loved chasing that squirrel tail). Max and Taylor got each a sting from the wild bees. Taylor was the rest of the day very grouchy (having from Friday aproximative 10 Hershey chocolate bites from Sandy's house - were left on the coffee table).

I don't know when will be again Taylor's big laughing day since I am so very busy with school and research work that all my weekends are working weekends.
I am more and more tired every week adding to the load, trying to catch up, and cutting from the sleeping time (hey, now is just 12:45AM, pretty early taking into consideration that lately 1AM and 2AM is my go-to-bed time).

I started my research and try to work on all three of my studies in the same time.
My students from EPFR515 think they have plenty of time to start their Final Projects (some did start, most of them did not), but there are only 6 more weeks to go till the end of this semester.

I still love the C++ (one more reason why my nights are so short).

Fall is here and cold freezing temps also (tonight might be the first frost). Leaves of all colors are all over, the grass does not grow as fast as before, it does not rain (that is quite bad, it's like Arizona dry). I wanted to take a picture of my little tree in the back yard, was like a yellow flame... today all leaves fell.

It is so cold 34F! I miss Tucson (their low of 62F in the night is higher than here the predicted high of tomorrow, 61F). I really dread winter.