When it rains, it tends to pour

So, we are going to Los Angeles, Hawaii, and Las Vegas in a few days and getting there is becoming difficult. Initially we got great deals back in January on airfare. Then our airline taking us to Hawaii, ATA, went bankrupt. All flights were canceled and we needed tickets. Of course this happened in April and tickets had gone up quite a bit. We next hear from Delta, our carrier to the West coast, that our once non-stop flights had been canceled and we were put onto new flights with plenty of stops. (Oh and none of use were sitting together either.) After a few phone calls Delta agreed that having our kids sit with us would be a good idea and that being on a non-stop flight, albeit at slightly awkward times, would be a good idea too. So, flights solved.

Then Kristen is going to have surgery to try and solve the pain she has had for months now. With scheduling conflicts, she elects to have surgery two weeks before traveling. If the surgery helps with the pain the vacation would be all the better. She'll need to rest a lot before traveling, but I can be home and my sister is out to help as well. Good timing Bonnie!! We are into week two and Kristen is now up and moving around a lot more. She's still in lots of pain, but able to travel - we hope.

This story becomes more interesting with an accident I had yesterday. While riding my bike, I was hit from the side and damaged my knee. To make a long story short, my knee is sprained. Sorry Kristen. I get to take a cane, much cooler than a crutch, on our vacation. And, for just $35 a day I can tour Disneyland in one of these......



Just a few more days and we'll be on our way. Hobbled, but not crippled, we count our blessings and look forward to seeing family, friends, the beach, and warm weather!!

Grading papers part 2

Nearly 300 pages later, I am done. Grades have been submitted. Here are my thoughts: Some were quite amazing, however others left a lot to be desired. I was particularily impressed with a couple of students who provided intriguing insight and even gave me a few ideas to ponder. I gave up trying to be a red-pen-Nazi and stuck to thorough reading, an occasional comment to show disgust or praise, and a red score written on the first page.

My biggest pet peeve, endless paragraphs that go on for a page or more. Are ENTER and TAB to difficult to press? Along similar lines, periods could have been used a bit more frequently. Granted, this was not an English paper, but come on! My conclusion: I should offer editing services. I could easily garner an additional 5-10 percentage points for some of these papers, padding my wallet at the same time.

Grading papers part 1

Well, the day finally arrived. The next week or two will be spent diving into this stack. I am curious how Harvard students will fair compared to papers I saw at BYU or in Hawaii - its probably not fair to compare college students to high school students, but who knows. More to come as the process continues.

Lessons Learned

A cake can be cooked using a broiler. I do NOT recommend this method however.

A cake made using a broiler is done in less than half the time.

Cooking a cake in the broiler for the full time burns the cake.

Cakes that burn make lots of smoke.

I have no response when my 3-year-old confesses to turning on the broiler, when he wasn't even under suspicion for changing the over settings.

My 3-year-old knows how to turn the broiler on.