decorating office walls

So here's the famous diploma in its awesome frame. (Click here to read the posting about this.) I took 2 photos, one with flash and one without. In the one with flash, you can see the rich colors and that the gold is really shiny. In the other, you can see it without glare but also without good color. Maybe I'll be a better photographer in my next lifetime. Better yet, just come visit me in Maine and you can see it in person.

And now, here's the context in which the diploma hangs. This is the wall on the south side of my office. It has room for a little more expansion, but I'm waiting to see what's appropriate and what new stuff might come along. I'll probably take the tam (the blue velvet, 6-sided hat with tassel) down so I don't stretch it out and it doesn't get too dusty or get faded (the west sun shines in my office and has already faded some stuff after only 9 months).

And here's the west wall. The window is to the right. The north wall is the bookcase that was in the "before and after" photos. (Click here to see the blog entry about "before and after".)

9/8/2007 Recycling Day!

It's Saturday morning and it's time to take our recycling to the dump. Err, I mean the recycling center. Ooops, no, it's "The Transfer Station." Semantics.

So all the stuff is loaded in the car.

It's actually not very far. First thing....we run into someone we know: the president of UMF! Yep, everybody recycles in this town (or at least they should). Gotta admit, I miss the days in Richardson where you put everything (yes, you can mix plastic, glass, tin, colored and clear, etc.) in a blue plastic bag and put it out in the alley on Tuesday mornings for the garbage men to pick up. But it reminds me of the old days before blue bags in Richardson when I used to take my stuff down to R.E.A.L.--the Richardson Environmental Action League. It was a non-profit group that started recycling LONG before it was popular or trendy. When I loaded it up in my car to take it down there, I had to sort glass by colors and separate out everything like here.

I'm not sure what the difference is between "high grade" paper and mixed paper. Well, I actually guessed that mixed was everything that wasn't high grade. I asked a fellow recycler and he said he thought that high grade was anything not glossy. Sounds good. Also sounds safe to just put everything in mixed. Maybe someone next time will know.

Hmmmm. #2 clear and #2 colored. I never had to sort the plastics like that before. But I can handle it. Too bad, though, that #2 is the only plastic they take. We have a lot of other plastics that aren't #2. Should I save them up and take them back to Texas with me in December? ;-)

Mary and her birthday loot

As I was leaving today, I ran into Mary on her way to her car. Look at all the beautiful flowers that she got for her birthday!

(That's Heidi's arm holding the photos on the right.)

9/7/2007 another new window

I could only leave Mary's birthday window up for one day, so that night I took down her birthday cake and made the window that I had planned all along for my return. You can see why it took so long. Cutting out all those tiny harbors in the Maine coastline was pretty tricky. It's times like this that make me wish I were in Colorado.

9/6/2007 look what's coming....

Yup. It's that frost in August that did it. Everywhere you look, there are patches of orange, red, and yellow starting to show up in the trees. It's going to be autumn before we know it!

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9/6/2007 Mary's Double Birthday Present

The window. This is a long story. It started as one little joke and now it's a tradition. I'm going to have to go backwards and blog about the early ones now because I can see it's going to be an on-going entry into the blog now. I'm thinking this is not so much my life with the Mainiacs, but their life with me! Oh well. :-)

So, last semester in February or March or so, when the semester was still new and life in the new building was still new (remember, the Education Center opened in January and I got to be the first one to occupy my office space), Kristin walks into my office and tries to get me to look out my window. I do, and there's Mary in her window across the way, flashing her lights on and off. We had been joking about having each other's windows as our "view" but now she's sending Morse code messages to me.

Well, this is too fun. I immediately find a website with the Morse code alphabet on it and print it out and put it in Mary's box so that next time she flashes her lights at me, she can at least be sending me an intelligible message. Then a few days later, Kristin takes me down to "Everyone's Resource Depot"--a cute little shop in the basement of the Education Center that has all the stuff that teachers try to save because they might be able to use them in their classroom: Styrofoam meat trays, miscellaneous pens and pencils, corks, fabric squares, carpet samples, . . . you know the stuff. The whole Farmington community contributes to it and anyone can come and shop there. For less than $2, I bought long paint sticks, sheets of red and yellow card stock, and other supplies. I went back to my office and made a pair of semaphore flags and printed off the directions for the semaphore alphabet. I wrapped it all up in brown paper and string and Allen, one of our great custodians, to let me in and leave it on her desk. The next day, she's standing at her window sending semaphore messages. Wow. That works REALLY well. This goes on for several weeks and then it's time for me to interview for the 3 year position. When I got the call at 7pm that night from the dean saying I got the job, something inspired me to write "I G O T I T !"--one letter per piece of paper--and tape it up in my window so Mary would know. It was a big joke and lots of fun and other people noticed it and stopped in to congratulate me. Mary and Heidi (Mary's next door neighbor who saw the window sign before Mary and told her about it) even put "Congratulations" signs in their windows. A few days later, I took my sign down and then Mary came and scolded me for not putting something else up in my window. Didn't I know it was part of my new job now to keep her entertained by putting new signs up in my window?!

And that's how it all began.

I will definitely go back and find the photos of the other windows and put them here in the blog. On my last day of the spring semester before I left for Texas for the summer, I put up a window display that basically said, "Gone back to Texas". Mary hated that window. When I got back, she bugged me every time she saw me to take it down. I had a new window planned, but didn't have time to get to it. Then I found out it was going to be Mary's birthday and that night, I made a different new window.

So here's Mary's double birthday present:

One part of the present is that I made a window just in honor of her birthday. The other part of the present is that I finally took down the window that she hated so much.

dogs at play

MRM came home one night and found this in the den:

That's the chandelier with a dog toy hanging from it. It has a little kite tail on it and it's meant to sail through the air, but who knew the dogs could throw it so hard and so high that it would get all the way up there?!

9/4/2007 new student orientation

On the same day as convocation, we have our official new student orientation. They've actually been here for 4 days of orientation already, but today is the department and advisor meetings. Everyone declares a major as freshmen or you can pick "Liberal Arts Undeclared." You can always change it, but they like to get you into a network and get you started on a track to help you get out in 4 years with a degree.

Here are orientation staff members helping new students find the right building to go to for their major:

The Secondary/Middle Education Department had their meeting in Lincoln Hall which is in Roberts Learning Center. Here are all the new students:

And here are the peer advisors. For each concentration (science, math, English, social studies), there is current student who is an upperclassman who works with new students to answer questions, help plan the 4 year schedule, etc.

9/4/2007 Convocation

It's the formal kick-off to the new academic year! Here at UMF, convocation is for new students and faculty. I don't think there's a place on campus (or in town) that can hold the whole student body and all the faculty, so just new students come. The faculty formally process in, there are speeches, and then everyone feels scholarly and we go on our way.

Here are the faculty gathering in "The Landing," a room in the lower level of the student union building.

Then, we formally process out of the building, down High Street, and into the Dearborn Gymnasium where the new students are all seated in folding chairs on the gymnasium floor. The procession is led by a bagpiper!

Afterwards, I had Kristin take my photo outside my office wearing my nifty new regalia.

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farther than Texas

I parked behind this truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Someone is V E R Y far away from home.

9/1/2007 new faculty picnic

Here's a fun tradition. In addition to all the meetings and formal meals with administrators as part of new faculty orientation, they have a big picnic for us. Families are invited and the folks who were the "newbies" the year before bring the side dishes and desserts. The university takes care of the main course which for us was 2 kinds of salmon and some yummy beef kabobs.

Last year's class had 21 folks in it, so the picnic was particularly large. There are only 8 in our rookie class. Sheena, who lives on the lake where I had my first kayak experience, hosts the annual event at her big Victorian home with large back yard and gorgeous gardens.

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metal roof

MRM's house needed a new roof but instead of getting a replacement shingle roof, she's getting a metal roof. It fits the period of the house and should last a lot longer than shingles. Apparently, north of here, everyone has a metal roof, and south of here, shingled roofs rule. But here, it's a mix. She's going with a certain grade and a certain shade of green that are eligible for some kind of tax reduction because of energy saving incentives. How handy that the shade of green matches her trim almost exactly. It's going to look great. Now we just have to wait for the first rain storm to see how it sounds inside the house and then the first snow. Snow will slide right off the metal roof after certain amounts of accumulation and certain temperatures (one of the advantages...no walking out of your windows to shovel your roof). Of course, there's great danger in that as well...you don't want to be under the eaves when that big pile of snow avalanches down.

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9/12/2007 look what's in the yard

I got home before sunset tonight and look what I found in the yard. I picked these 4 because in real life, they're all very different colors. I laid them on the scanner and hit the "scan" button. MRM says there will be several FEET of leaves at the height of the season. When you rake them, you rake them towards the sidewalk and the city has a giant leaf-sucking-up-machine that picks them up. Can't wait to see that!!!

9/11/07 Fwd: Overall (May 07) - approved!

I finished my dissertation in December, I graduated in May, but today, I really and truly actually finished my Ph.D. There's one last step you have to go through and that's to get the graduate reader's approval on your dissertation. Your committee is in charge of making sure that your content is accurate and that you indeed created new knowledge to contribute to the field and that you know what you're talking about. After they approve it, the graduate reader works with you on margins, headings, citations, style (APA or MLA, etc.) and details like that. It took me about 11 hours to get all the work done. But at last I got it done and received this email.

I emailed the final version to her Monday night and so decided that Tuesday I could do fun stuff on my "to-do" list (update the blog, organize top dresser drawer, work on Christmas card,...). One of those was to put my diploma in the really cool frame that Mother and Daddy gave me as a graduation gift and hang it on the wall. I didn't really think much about it at the time, but how appropriate that she got back to me so quickly to say that this last round was good and that I was officially done . . . on the day that I was officially hanging my diploma on the wall!

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Jill Kleister"

Date: September 11, 2007 3:23:07 PM EDT

To:

Subject: Overall (May 07) - approved!

Hello Theresa,

I have finished reviewing your dissertation, and I am pleased to inform you that I have approved your document for publication on the UNT Libraries Web server, and with ProQuest. I have attached a copy of the final approved PDF, for your records. The transcript block has been removed from your records.

Congratulations on your most recent achievement, Dr. Overall, and best wishes for your future endeavors!

Sincerely,

Jill

***********

J. S. Kleister

Graduate Reader

Toulouse School of Graduate Studies

University of North Texas

***********

9/6/2007: 65-year-old gets carded in supermarket

I knew this was news here, but I didn't realize it was national news! Mamma Z in Dallas emailed it to me . . . it showed up as a headliner in her Yahoo News when she logged in to her computer.

Yes, that is the grocery store where MRM and I do most of our grocery shopping.

65-year-old gets carded in supermarket

Thu Sep 6, 4:01 PM ET
AP-Associated Press

FARMINGTON, Maine - A 65-year-old woman who went into a Farmington supermarket to buy wine was turned away because she didn't have an ID with her. But Barbara Skapa of Mount Vernon says that won't happen again.

"I'll be bringing my driver's license with me from now on," Skapa said.

She normally carries her license. But with her leg in a cast, Skapa was being driven by a friend when she went into the Hannaford Bros. market last week in and picked up several items, including a few bottles of wine.

The cashier told her it was policy to check for identification, said Skapa, who believes "no one would mistake me for 30 or even 40." Skapa asked if her friend could buy the wine for her, but that was disallowed too because it's considered "third-party" purchasing. Skapa asked to see the manager.

A spokeswoman for the supermarket chain, Rebecca Howes, said Hannaford's new policy is to check IDs of anyone who looks under 45 and wants to buy alcohol. The previous policy was to check for proof of age of those who look younger than 30.

The policy is not unlike those of many other Maine businesses and chains who want to stop minors from illegally buying alcoholic beverages and cigarettes.

In 2005, the state Legislature passed a law that requires identification from those who look under 27 years old before they can buy either.

The Big Apple chain's 90 stores in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont require clerks to require identification from anyone, regardless of age, who buys alcohol or tobacco. The strict policy went into effect after two Portland stores sold alcohol to minors in one night.

Earlier this year, some Portland establishments tightened their ID policies following an undercover sting of dozens of bars and convenience stores that led to 20 summonses for selling alcohol to underage customers. One restaurant, the Flatbread Co., told employees to card anyone ordering drinks who looks under 40.

A pilot program called Card ME was launched recently by the state Office of Substance Abuse and Maine's Higher Education Alcohol Prevention Partnership. It gives participating businesses educational guidebooks and material to help employees spot fake IDs.

Retrieved 9/9/2007 from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070906/ap_on_fe_st/65_year_old_carded&printer=1;_ylt=A0WTUdJUpeRGPtwAhRYuQE4F

It's a pretty funny story and I love that it happened in Farmington where I now reside. But really, think about it, it could've happened anywhere. When you were in college, how good were you at judging people's ages? Anyone over 30 was ancient! How are you supposed to guess what 45 looks like? And many of the clerks in that store are college students. I've run into several of my students working there.

MRM said that she used to work in a grocery store and she just carded everyone no matter what because it was easier than trying to guess and the law says the clerk who sells alcohol to a minor is liable. She also told us that once you ask for an ID, you can't "take it back" and say, "Oh that's okay." So the manager, who may have been able to determine that the woman was not 45 or younger, could not dismiss it. Once asked, you have to produce ID or you can't buy.

Thanks for sending me the link, Mamma Z!!

from last winter...snowman soup

I'm cleaning off my desk and came across something that Dr. Grace and Beth gave me. It's something they gave practicum students last December. It's so cute, I just had to share (plus, I really want to get rid of the paper but I don't want to lose the idea).

In a zip loc bag put:
1 packet of hot cocoa mix
a handful of marshmallows
some Hershey's kisses
a candy cane
the following poem:

Snowman Soup
When it's so cold that you holler and whoop,
It is time to bring out the snowman soup!

Pour the packet in a mug, add the snowballs, too
Throw in the kisses from the snowman to you

Now add some hot water, use the cane to stir it
Sip slowly and soon you'll feel the warm winter spirit

...the inside scoop

Only those in the know will really get this cartoon. But those who are "aware" will love it. It came out while I was in Texas, but MRM saved it for me. She knew that I would get it. ;-) And ifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif you don't get it, then you need to read this entry in my blog:

http://mainiactheresa.blogspot.com/2007/01/coca-cola-mentos-and-buckfield-maine.html

And then there's this related one:

http://mainiactheresa.blogspot.com/2007/01/later-that-night.html

Here's the cartoon: