Just wanted to post here on the "public" setting to let all my readers (all 12 of you) know about the passing of my mother in law. We were there visiting her and within a week, she was gone. We have great memories of her just over the last 6 months. I know I will treasure my memories of her and pass them along to my kids. My mother in law defied stereotypes. She was the nicest mother in law I could have asked for.

Obviously, we are all very sad and are just taking things a day at a time, but I did want to offer my thanks for everyone's kind comments. Just remember to tell people how much you love them, because you never know when will be the last conversation you have with someone you love dearly.

Last night I dreamed that I was giving birth. There were crowds of people I know and love all around me. The baby came out (painlessly, natch), and there was silence. I couldn't figure out why nobody would tell me what was wrong with my baby. A relative (an OBGYN) told me to get together kool-aid for the baby and started doing CPR. The baby revived.

All I have felt today is the need to hold an infant.

The Bible Bill

I'm not sure that legislation naming 2010 as "The Year of the Bible" is necessary, but it just causes me some food for thought. Obviously, as a Christian, I place a high emphasis on the contents of the Bible (esp. the New Testament) as a guide for how to live my life. But I forget about just how much Biblical allusion there is in literature, since, hello, 10 years out of high school! I forget about these things until someone brings it up! shelbyscout and dinahmoe27, I'm sure you could speak more to Bible references in English literature than I can. I'm not particularly interested so much in American history, but apparently the Founding Fathers placed a lot of emphasis on Biblical principles in their lives, as well as in the documents they assembled... I regularly hear about how supposedly they would be rolling over in their graves to see how people disregard the Bible in matters of government and lawmaking. (Sounds like a plug for me to go back and read some of early American documents!)

Just thinking about the spirit behind the link I posted above, I was just wanting to encourage my readers to consider reading the Bible. It's long, but over the course of a year you can read something like 3 chapters a day and read it through in a year. You might learn something new, or you might notice that something you always thought was in the Bible is actually not there...

Also, for those non-Christians out there, and also for the literature aficionados, a question: Have you read through the Bible? What was the context? Like, for a class? Was it certain books or chapters? Or has anyone read it through from cover to cover for non-religious purposes?

Discuss.

One of my close friends is moving away today. She has been like a sister to me for the last four years, and I will miss her family so much!

How is it that there is a $150 discrepancy between my bank account balance, and my ledger, in my favor? I'm failing to find my error, but I am not going to look *too* hard for it.

For some reason, these guys get me every time.

I taught my last class of the semester yesterday! Now all I have to do is give the final exam, grade assignments, and assign grades. I'm pretty stoked. I feel like I did a pretty good job with teaching. I feel like this job, small though it seemed, was just what I needed to boost my self-confidence after graduate school wore it down all those years. My fear of public speaking is abated, at least for the time being.

I was also surprised by how much preparation work goes into teaching. At least for my first time teaching, I was only working an hour a day, three days a week, but I was spending more time than that at home preparing the lectures, doing up the powerpoints, writing tests, grading, etc., and it was still the bare minimum.

I also have had a chance to learn exactly how blessed I have been with a top notch college and graduate school education. The school where I am working now is not particularly well-funded. I am accustomed to computers, projection screens, and doing everything online. Turns out not every university is at that level just yet -- and I bet half of my students weren't able to check their email on a regular basis. Not to mention all the school's paperwork was done on paper instead of online.

Regardless, I hope my students feel like they learned something from me, and I hope I was able to expose them to a facet of psychology that they might not have otherwise experienced.

One of these days, my kid is going to say "That's what She said" and I'm not going to know what to do.

Inspired by gyttja

"The Female Brain" by Louann Brizendine
I liked this one, as a good summary of mostly current research on the effect of ovarian hormones on brain development. A good starter for the lay-person who is interested in sex differences.

"Blink: The power of thinking without thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell
Lots of cool anecdotes and examples, but I didn't come away knowing what I could do about snap judgments.

"A Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Freaky and disturbing. I hate to read about what people think that the religious right would do if they were somehow "in charge". It's a little over the top for me.

"The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood
Well done, freaky and disturbing. When I got to the end, I wanted to read it over again because of the last-minute turn of events.

"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien

Currently reading: The Fellowship of the Ring

Needless to say, Naomi is also becoming very familiar with the library :) I'm a big fan of their online request process, it makes my life so much easier, plus getting tons of CDs to import onto my iPod!

On tap: The rest of the Lord of the Rings series. That should carry me into the summer.

Also, a chapter a day, making my way through the New Testament.