wholesome corn-fed goodness
The lovely and talented Jean, Renaissance Scholar Extraordinaire, suggested that we give our new vacuum a name. What do you all suggest?
For your inspiration, here is the correct picture of the vacuum (the one I linked to before was similar, but not exactly the same as, the one we bought):
Well, what shall we name it?
…in a totally awesome way!
I’m sorry that I haven’t posted in a while, but nevermind that right now. I have to tell you about the new vacuum Will and I purchased last night: the vacuum that has already begun to trigger a cleaning revolution in our home.
My mom has been appalled the last few times she’s been at our house because the two small pieces of carpet we do have in our otherwise hard-floor-dominated home are ALWAYS dirty. She has suggested we buy a vacuum to replace the one that died a couple of years ago, but I have put it off, thinking “$50-$100 for a vacuum we’ll use on a total of 50 square feet of our house? Maybe next month.” (Mom, you can rest easy now.)
Then a few days ago I suddenly realized that they make vacuums that work on hard floors, too. VACUUMS THAT WORK ON HARD FLOORS TOO!!! No more futile sweeping of the dirt from one part of the house to another. No more struggling to get all of the little dust pieces into the dustpan. No more sweeping the floor and feeling grit on the bottom of my feet again only 5 minutes later. Praise the Lord!! Huzzah!!
I’m not quite sure why no one told me about this before, but I’ll forgive all of you for keeping this little secret from me. Let me tell you what amazing kinds of cleaning I can do with my new vacuum (most of which I actually did do last night). Obviously, I can vacuum the wood floor, which is SO MUCH faster and easier than sweeping. I can also attach the dusting brush tool and vacuum the floorboards and the vents. I can use the same tool for windowsills, and the telescoping wand (!!) allows me to use the same tool for vacuuming the TOPS OF THE WINDOWS and the cobwebs in the ceiling near the corners of the rooms!!!
But lo, there’s more. I can use the handheld mini-vacuum OR the dusting tool to vacuum out the couches and the crevice tool to finish them up. I can vacuum the cross-pieces of the piano and piano bench which seem ALWAYS to be dusty. Furthermore, I can haul the whole thing to the garage and use all of these tools in my car. Oh glorious day!
Today, people, marks the beginning of a new era. Mark my words.
I’m reading through my students’ peer review comments. Here’s the funniest one I have discovered so far:
“I think your essay is very wordy and, at times, very hard to follow. Remember who your audience is—a bunch of college students. Maybe you can be less articulate.”
I’ve been trying to think of something witty to say in response, but I think that maybe this student’s comments really say it all. One thing I will say: I like both of these students a lot. But sometimes they say the most hilarious things!
Poor Otto just got back from the vet. He had to be sedated so that they could:
Sad! He is still a bit dazed by the whole experience. p.l.g.!
(Other than Tiffany’s news about her awesome jobs), the best thing about today was that the paper I gave at our department’s medieval colloquium actually went pretty well (I think). At least, nobody told me I was stupid. And nobody told me about some important fact that I had no clue about. And I had answers for most of the questions they asked me. Including ND and JN, who were not nearly so collegial last time I presented something to them.
Actually, I got a lot of really good feedback and good suggestions. And the whole experience made me think (probably for the first time) that I might just be able to be a real live “scholar” someday. Phew.
So, now that the paper I’ve been obsessing about for three weeks is done, here are the next things I need to think about:
1. Two-page teaching philosophy, which I have to hand in tomorrow.
2. Laundry.
3. Revising my Unit 2 Essay assignment, which I have to hand out tomorrow.
4. Getting a baby gift for the shower I’m going to on Saturday.
5. Grading my students’ papers, which I absolutely must have finished by Monday.
Once these things are done, it seems like it should be smooth sailing until spring break. YAY!!!!
I just got one of coolest messages ever in my inbox.
It is from someone called Gauzy B. Brainchild.
The subject line is: You don’t know me from Adam. : )
Awesome.
This one is almost as good as the one I got a few days ago with the subject line of: How is your good self today?
I think that in an alternate life, it would be kind of fun to think up names and subjects for spam…
Today, Otto got a haircut. He hadn’t had one since November 29th, which was a pretty long time ago. I thought that you might enjoy a bit of Before & After action.
Before:
Witness the p.l.g., who, despite the best attempts of his owners to keep him well-groomed and free of mats, is looking remarkably unkempt (though still very cute).
(He is cocking his head like that because I was saying things like “Treat” and “Outside” and “Dog Park” and “Basement” to try and get him to put on his most attentive/confused shaggy-dog face.)
After:
Witness the same p.l.g., looking much tidier and more kempt, though still (as always) very cute:
(I was saying “Treat” etc. again, but he wasn’t as excited today after the haircut as he was last night.)
Will and I always feel like he looks quite severe after his haircuts. I find that he usually reaches his cuteness apex 2-3 weeks after his haircut, when the severity has faded but the shagginess has not yet fully developed.
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