Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Some Christmas Day Pictures

These lovely photos were taken by Dan and Simona Segar on Christmas Day at the Bork's. Enjoy!


Here's Mama Simona, Mom Bork, and Maya

Trevor, Me, Aunt Char, and a ham (in case you can't tell them apart, the ham is on the plate, Trevor is in the green shirt. HA!)

The Party Room Gang: Grandma, Char, Dad, Uncle Jim, Auntie Irene

We're chowing down and I'm thinking about snacking on Maya's head. Carly and Erica seem undisturbed by that. I used to snack on their heads, too, when they were babies, and they turned out okay.

Mama and Baby. Very far away.

Daddy Dan and the super noodle-headed Maya

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

It's been well over a month...

...and I've been hearing it from our readers. "Readers" meaning my dad. Hi, Dad! I've sent out a call for some holiday pictures from the recent gatherings we've attended, so as soon as I get some back, I'll post them up here. In the mean time, I'll tell you all about what's been going on.

I turned in my final grades on Friday, December 18, and...yahooooooo! It was nice to get it done, and I won't start classes again until January 18. The week before that I have some meetings and our back-to-school workshop (which I co-organized and is going to be fantastic!). I spent all last week Christmas shopping, which was a lot of fun even though the weather was less than ideal. Christmas Eve was spent at Greg and Paula's house with the Borks, Boscos, Buxes, and Nichols. Dinner was delicious and we got to see baby Michael Jameson, who's growing up to be a chubby-cheeked doll. We gave Michael and Sheena a coupon good for one night of babysitting with me and Trevor, and I hope they take us up on it soon.

We went to the City Bork's on Christmas Day and brought the Segar Trio with us. We had shrimp creole and lovely conversation with the Bosco gang, Grandma, and Auntie Irene in the building's party room. The Bosco girls took advantage of the movie room and the rest of us just spread out, eating, drinking, and laughing.

The day after Christmas was chock-full of family. We headed out to Uncle Doug and Jean Madel's in River Forest for brunch, where we got to spend a few hours with Grandma and Grandpa Madel and Jim. Neill, Fran, and Destiny were there with us and we caravanned out after brunch to Geneva to see John and Fran Power. Sean and Angi couldn't make it because Sean got the flu. Angi took him to the hospital that morning and it turned out he actually had H1N1--he's much better now and yesterday polished off a Whopper and shake from BK. That's the sign he's on the mend, I think.

On our way out to Geneva, the snow, which had started falling about 11 a.m. that day, got thicker and thicker. While on Highway 88, the car in front of us braked and Trevor braked in response, but our car lost control and skidded into the concrete barrier on the shoulder. No one was hurt and we didn't hit another car, thankfully. We were able to get to John and Fran's house and the insurance company made getting a tow truck and filing a claim super easy for us to do. We were a little shaken up, but nothing that a delicious dinner and a cozy night couldn't take care of. John and Fran dropped us at the train station that night, and we were pretty happy not to have had to drive home in the weather. It hadn't really stopped snowing all afternoon. The car's in a shop in Naperville and hopefully won't take too long to repair. Thankfully I'm off for a few weeks and Trevor doesn't need the car for work. So, we'll see how it goes!

Trevor got seasons 1 and 2 of Mad Men for Christmas, and we had a marathon on Sunday and Monday. It was just the kind of medicine we needed after a long stretch of going out and hustling about for the holiday. I had another day of futzing around the house today, finishing laundry, drinking tea, knitting, and hanging out with Henry. Tomorrow, though, I'll have to start some work. I need to finish the online training for a hybrid/blended course I'll be teaching next Fall, and I have to prep for a class I'll be teaching in the Spring but haven't taught since the summer before last. It's actually the class I had so much trouble with--the student of mine wanted to ban the book we read. I'm teaching the book again, so everyone had better just watch out. This time I have a content warning statement in my syllabus statement, and if anyone makes trouble, I'll just throw a pencil at their head.

I just remembered that I forgot to tell you all that I made the front page of the NW Herald for a second time in as many years! Last month the college hosted its annual MCC Night, when we invite all high school students and their parents to see what we have to offer. My officemate, Lisa, and I worked the English Department table that evening, and we got our picture taken for the article, which ended up on the front page! What was even odder is that it was the second picture the paper had of me in that Sunday issue. That week I'd been interviewed for a "man-on-the-street" sort of a thing. The little reporter girl asked me, "If you could ask Congress to focus on anything right now, what would it be?" And of course I answered, "Education," and explained why it was important. And she took a snapshot and I was in the paper! I don't have a copy of that picture, but my Aunt Carol said she'd give me her copy. I should start subscribing to the paper, or at least picking it up at the train station when I get into Crystal Lake. Who knows when I'll pop up in there next!

Well that's all for now. When I get some pictures I'll post them for you all to enjoy. I'll write something more interesting later on this week. Until then... happy post-Christmas and early New Year!