Coffee Flavored Kisses

I’ve been amazed by the numbers of people in my classes, but I am even more amazed by the numbers of people simply on our campus.  Almost every single class is packed; there are more people on this campus than we have seen. I am told that our Registrar has commented that he has never had to close so many classes due to high enrollment. This, of course, is a good problem for a small school.

Good problem or not, it is simply astounding and overwhelming to see so many students. Four of my six classes run 25 people or more. The other two are running right around 15 - 20 people. It’s amazing.

On the home front, Mike traded in our Honda Accord on a Chevy Equinox.  It’s a pretty little thing, and I hope it serves us well.

The cats are all well, though they weren’t happy that I went back to work–I was gone much too long for their tastes. Who knew creatures who sleep all day would notice the absence?

In the last couple of years I have lost about 30 pounds–thanks to my diabetes I am sure.  Having lost this weight, I find myself feeling very girly these days.  In the last week I have bought a new purse (red/wine colored), four new blouses, a new pair of black pants, and a new pair of jeans, oh and a pair of shoes.  I go through girly phases every once in a while, but I haven’t really been able to do much about it due to a lack of funds. Now I have the funds, and I fear for my closet. I think I need to go through it and make some fierce decisions on what to keep. Poor Goodwill, by the time I get there, I’ll have 20 huge garbage bags for them–from all three of us

I’m annoyed today, by the way. Someone folded up the treadmill, and didn’t unfold it.  Unfortunately, I have no clue how to unfold it…grrrrr.

I go back to work on Monday, and classes start on Wednesday.  My semester will be full. I have the usual six classes–2 Comp 1s, 2 Comp 2s, World Lit 1, and Philosophy.  I have very nice enrollment numbers.  I have 125 students enrolled, and 3 waitlisted.  I looked around, and I think I have the highest number of English students of anyone.  This is going to keep me busy!  I also will gain some students on Tuesday’s registration.  Add my role as advisor to a student group, the writer’s forum, and just life–I will be exhausted.

We had our driveway expanded last week. We should be able to use it as of today, except there were a couple of spots that didn’t dry correctly.  It didn’t dry correctly because they poured the concrete over very wet mud.  Why did they do this you ask?  They did this because they thought my simple “Are y’all going to pour the concrete today?” was something along the lines of the Incredible Hulk going, “Hulk want concrete. Pour now.”  Perhaps as a friend suggested, I used my teacher voice, but really. . . Idjits.

Mike is thinking of buying a new vehicle. He has narrowed it down to either another Jeep Patriot or a Chevy Equinox.  Either is fine with me, but who knows…

Anyway, I have cleaning and shopping to do, so later gators.

It’s obvious that I have blogs I like to read listed in my blogroll. The reason for some of them is obvious.  I love Christopher Moore and Neil Gaiman, so they’re obvious. I like Poppy Z Brite’s food books, and she lives in New Orleans, so reading her blog often helps when I’m homesick. The cat blogs make sense because, well I love cats.  It’s the others that aren’t so obvious.  Now, Appetites is a New Orleans food blog, and Richard Peyton, the lawyer who writes it, amuses the heck out of me. Plus, he’s a darned good writer.  So I get a homesickness cure and great writing.

However, I want to pimp one of the other blogs: ChefCDB.  This blog is the blog of New Orleans chef Chris DeBarr (life partner of Poppy Z Brite–that’s how I found it).     Chef DeBarr is a wonderful food writer (well and a wonderful writer as well).  The entries that he has been writing since he opened his restaurant The Green Goddess have been a thoughtful and fascinating (to an outsider) look at the passion that goes into such an adventure.  When I get to New Orleans at some point, I definitely want to take the family!  However, his current entry is a wonderful piece on the nature of the kitchen, and it is certainly worth a read.  So go click on the link in the blogroll–you will not be disappointed.