It’s near the end of my first week teaching at Ole Miss. So far, things look to be going rather well. Both my classes have gotten off to a good start. It’s amazing what walking into a classroom does for a teacher, especially if those kids are curious and energetic (a great combo). By the end of the first day, my funk was mostly lifted. By the second day, it was almost completely gone.
Javi has adjusted well to our new place. I think he likes having his own “playroom.” Although he had his own (slightly larger) room in Baltimore, the guest bed occupied much of the space. Having lost that to the move, Javi now has a lot of empty floor space in his room. The advantage is twofold: 1) fewer toys strewn about our living room (which is also smaller than in Baltimore) and 2) he is more likely to play on his own, safely out of the way.
It’s also amazing how much he learns, and how quickly. He’s very, very close to swimming already. He has the idea of kicking down, but sometimes forgets to paddle. But he’s fearless about jumping right into the “deep end” (anything over 3 feet for him)—so long as one of us is there to “catch” him—and trying to swing around, feet kicking and arms (sometimes) flailing. We hold him up w/ one hand under his chest, and sometimes—for the briefest of moments—he actually drifts away on his own (a mixture of floating & swimming). I’m hoping the weather stays hot enough for Javi to learn to swim (my expectations/hopes for my son are sky high) before winter.
Otherwise, trying to carve out time to work on various projects that seem to keep falling through the cracks. Once Javi starts daycare next week, things should get much easier on that front. At least, I’d have two weekdays a week when I don’t teach but can get to my office to work. I’d like to clear my standing “to do” list before I have to start grading large amounts of student work.
But K8 goes on am overnight department retreat this weekend, so I should find something to entertain Javi most of Saturday. Maybe I’ll try to set him up on a playdate? That’s something young parents do, right? At least we’ve already met a number of young faculty w/ children. So it should be easy enough.
Also, I should mention my favorite thing about moving here: I live where I work. Actually, I live biking distance to where I work. Sure, I have to ride around a series of suicide rotundas to get across a state highway. But I can make the trek from apartment to office in less than 20 minutes (and I hope to cut that down to under 15 once I’m back in shape). That’s a vast improvement from 70-90 minutes in a car. But it’s not just the convenience of being close to the office. It’s also the fact that I can interact w/ the student/faculty community on a regular, uncontrived basis. That’s one of the things I liked best about being at Dickinson (where it was a 5-10 minute walk to campus). And yet I get all the advantages of a major public university. It’s no Kalamazoo, but Oxford may well be decent substitute.
Miguel,
Good luck in your new life in Oxford, MS. I think the Deep South is culturally very interesting and is a largely underrated part of the country (I live in Louisiana). The academic bubble should protect you from its few unpleasant aspects and from too much interaction with "birthers", "deathers" and other crazies that tend to abound around here.