Ishee?

"Ishee?" 
That's Maya's way of saying, "where is she?" when she plays peek-a-boo.  It's pretty cute (I'm biased, I know)! You also get to hear her say "yeah" at the end of the video.  She started doing that this week.  Maya, do you want to eat? Yeah! Maya, do you want to go outside? Yeah!  Much better than her "No!" phase from last week!

We just finished up week one of January term.  It sure is nice not to be teaching this month!  I'm calling it my invisible month...a chance to get caught up on all the things I should have done last semester without too many distractions.  I go into work every day and it's amazing how much there is to do.  I've finally picked out books for my spring classes (the book orders were due in mid November), I learned (today!) how to update the website of the program I've been directing since September (a website that has been horribly out of date since I didn't know how to change it), and I've written a bunch of recommendation letters for students and colleagues.  I'm also trying to get ahead on a few things...planning for next semester's classes, researching and writing a conference paper I will present in April, planning for my spring programs for first year students, and planning for the summer teaching workshop I have to lead.  I also managed to commit myself to making presentations (of various levels of formality) in four different J-term classes, at an admissions event, and at an adult education program.  Now that I wrote that all down, it doesn't feel very invisible anymore!

In addition to the work stuff, I'm also trying to get more balanced in a few other ways.  I'm trying to make more time to work out and adding in a few extra workouts each week, thanks to the free exercise classes offered to employees over the lunch hour (which I can actually go to since I'm not teaching!).  I've been trying to eat a little better and add in more leafy greens...spinach in my morning smoothies and more salads.  I've also recommitted myself to being more intentional about hospitality and inviting people over for dinner.  Maybe one of these years I'll really figure out how to balance everything well :)