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Working from Home with Kids Part 2
In the last post, I described my journey to being a work-from-home mom. In this post I’ll share some of the struggles. To give reference, I have two boys – one is now in preschool four mornings a week, and one is in first grade. I’m a part-time temporary hire, which in fancy terms is adjunct professor. I’ve been doing this…
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Working from Home with Kids Part 1
In the final stretch of my PhD program, I traveled to Portland for an annual conference. I’d been married just under three years, and earlier in the week, Joe and I rafted down the White Salmon River, during which I had a near death experience. It was an anxiety ridden week, because on top of almost dying, I had applied for tenure-track…
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Feeder
Just before Christmas, I put out birdseed. When we returned home from Tennessee, the birds had discovered it, and they are now hanging out on the deck taking turns at the feeders. “Taking turns” may be a generous phrase for what really goes down. It’s more of a crowd of feathers hopping back and forth from deck railing to feeder…
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Happy New Year!
At one point during our Tennessee visit last week, Dad grabbed my arms and said “Those are digging arms!” It’s true, I do have digging arms. I’ve dug so many holes around the yard that not only could I not recall them all, I’ve also become a very efficient digger. I know the spots in my yard that can be…
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Handbuilding in the Kitchen
With only two or so weeks until Christmas, I wanted to get in one more batch of pottery for the year. Since the pottery wheel is currently covered in Speckled Brownstone clay, and all I have left to use is Little Loafers, which is a white clay, I’ve moved back to handbuilding inside. I know I could just clean the…
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Making Ceramic Ornaments with Cookie Cutters
For several years now, we have made Christmas ornaments from clay. Last weekend I brought my supplies into the kitchen to finish up a couple requests from friends, and my kids descended on the makeshift workspace and demanded clay and all my tools. After a morning of wresting on the living room floor and failed attempts at controlling the noise level in the…
