Life as a part-part-time college instructor

Hi everyone, and I'm sorry it's been so long! I've been super-busy with the start of school and deadline after deadline. Seriously, I've barely even been reading your blogs! But I have a little time now on my ice day, so I thought I would go ahead and post.

First off, I'm really enjoying my class at SE (that's right SOSU is beginning a transition to SE, which seems incomplete to me). I originally had two sections of comp 2, but the week classes began, I was informed that one class didn't make. It actually wasn't my class that didn't make, but a full-time instructor's, but she needed another section to be full-time, I suppose, so she got my 8 a.m. section. So now I'm just teaching one class at 11 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is really nice. I leave the house around 9:30 to take Claire over to Mamaw and Papaw's, which she LOVES, and then get to the college about an hour before my class starts to get stuff done. Then I pick up Claire just before naptime, and still have my hour and a half of mommy time.

That's right, Claire's afternoon nap has decreased to somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. I HATE it! This morning I woke up at 7 and had Jay check whether or not classes were canceled on his phone (we were both awake because of an early-morning catfight in our garage). I went ahead and got up and he was like, "What are you doin?" I said, "I need to make use of every minute I have while Claire is sleeping!" And had a luxurious morning routine of yoga, shower with leg shaving (whoa it had been way too long on that one), and making pumpkin waffles.

I have had no less than FIVE story assignments this month, so have been kept very busy with traveling, interviews, researching, and writing. I love it! It's the perfect job for me. I do interviews in my sweats and write stories until midnight! Last weekend, Jay, Claire, and I went on a trip for a story, and paid for nothing! That's the way to travel! First, we ate at Two Frogs Grill in Ardmore, which I'm writing about for the May/June rock 'n' roll-themed issue of OKT.

Then we went to Arbuckle Wilderness in Davis just north of Ardmore, a safari park that is 400 acres of llamas, camels, emus, hyenas, zebras, buffalo, wolves, ostriches, donkeys, giraffes, gazelles, and a rhino and white tiger! You buy feed cups and they're all super-tame and practically stick their heads in your car to get food! Except the dangerous animals, which are in cages, which makes me sad. There was a hand-painted sign by the wolves' cage that said: "We love humans; they taste like chicken! Please STAY IN YOUR CAR!" There's also a walk-through park with a reptile house, peacocks, and monkeys! Unfortunately, the monkeys stay in buildings during the cold months, so we didn't get to see them. Claire wasn't any the wiser though. She loved the whole thing! She would spy an animal and say "Ammal!" and point, and then grab the cup of feed and say "snack."

Next, it was on to Pauls Valley, to the Toy and Action Figure Museum. It is such a neat place: there's a batcave in the back with all the Batman paraphernelia, a WWII set up with GI Joes engaged in battle, a dress-up area where kids can try on comic book and superhero costumes, and a play area with toys kids can actually play with! And thousands of action figures on display! Claire wasn't so wild about it, but she had fun. It would be a great destination for dads who collected action figures and will recognize a bunch of the older ones with sons who now play with them (I'm thinking of Kyle and Carson, Audrey!)

The traveling to these kid-friendly places has been for a pair of stories I'm doing for MetroFamily Magazine, based in Edmond. They're doing a really neat issue this summer, in which they'll include 3-4 day itineraries for family road trips to each of the six regions of Oklahoma. It's been so fun to travel for and write these stories, and I hope that they will be a good way for me to get into the family writing market.

On the way home, we ate at the Burger Shoppe. Let me tell you out-of-towners, this is high-quality fast food my hub's partner serves up! Chicken strips made with actual strips of GOOD, seasoned chicken! Free beans with every meal! Corn nuggets! YUM! And always nice to cap off the day with another free meal!

Still no time!

You'd think things would have slowed down around here, but it's been nonstop since Christmas for us! Claire and I just got back yesterday afternoon from a trip to eastern Oklahoma with my sister and younger brother, Amanda and Tyler, for a story I'm writing for MetroFamily magazine on exploring Oklahoma with kids. That area is so fun, because everything you do is outside and thus, cheap and wholesome! I highly recommend especially the Beavers Bend State Park to families! Tons of cabins to choose from, plus some great bed and breakfasts, and the Lakeview Lodge inside the park, which I'm told is very nice. If anyone would like some tips, please e-mail me!

I loaded a bunch of pics onto my Facebook from our trip, so please check them there. Claire is going to wake up any minute, and I've got to take down Christmas decorations before I leave this afternoon to go see the Dancing with the Stars tour in Dallas with Amanda and Mom (a surprise Christmas gift from Amanda!)!!

Also, Christmas was great of course, although my camera's flash quit working, so I only got pics in very bright conditions. Which means NONE on Christmas morning at our house, except for maybe some with Jay's iPhone. *fingers crossed* I also uploaded what little pics I got from Christmas onto Facebook.

This whole month is going to be hectic for me, what with story deadlines and the beginning of my first semester as a college instructor, so I probably won't be posting much, except for when I'm procrastinating, like now!!