March 2007
Monthly Archive
Comp Update - Take 2
Posted by Administrator on 30 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
I practiced my presentation for Z this afternoon, and he threw me a couple of questions. I felt a lot more comfortable presenting this time, but even Z commented that I am still too tentative. Nothing some more practice rounds this weekend won’t solve. I came home and collapsed on the bed to watch a few minutes of Legally Blonde while Luke slept and Brooke was at the park with Scott. I may run through the presentation one more time tonight and then just relax.
Comp Update
Posted by Administrator on 29 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
Slides for the presentation are done, but I still need to get the transparencies made. I hate making them myself and getting the copier all jammed up, and the place I usually take them was stupid and said they can’t get their machine to make more than 2 transparencies before not working (I am thinking they are no more knowledgeable than I am about getting the transparencies correctly loaded in the copier). So, I need to figure that out tomorrow morning after I teach. I gave a first-run presentation to Scott tonight. Not only did he fall asleep, but the presentation was way too long. So, now I need to figure out what to cut. I also know I need to change one slide and get better versed on the derivation of some of my equations. So, that is what I will be working on tonight and tomorrow. After lunch tomorrow I meet with Z to do a trial run of the presentation. Three days to go. I am starting to feel really nervous. Then I wonder what I will feel like at the proposal and dissertation defenses. Man, I can’t even think about those nerves now.
Nothing Like A Good Guilt Trip
Posted by Administrator on 25 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
Let me preface this by saying that this semester my school schedule minimally impacts my time with the kids (other than on Wednesdays when I am gone all day). Most of the time I am only at school in the morning while Brooke is at school and Luke is taking a long morning nap. Two times a week I go back in the afternoon but only for two hours. I rarely go to school on the weekends. So, I try to cram all my work into mornings and post-bedtime unless there are serious deadline issues like I am facing now.
So, yesterday I go into the office while both kids are taking a nap. Again, I am trying to minimize time away from the kids. I had been there a little over an hour when I get a phone call from a crying Brooke. She had gotten up from her nap, wanted me, and was sad that I had left her. The guilt I felt was immeasurable. So, I packed up and was home in about 10 minutes. The result is that I am still very far behind and am not sure when I am going to make up for all this work I need to get done. I guess that somehow I need to find a way to get over my exhaustion and stay up working past 11.
Quite a Week
Posted by Administrator on 24 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
Sorry that there have not been many updates here, but even the usual few minutes of free time have been nearly non-existent this week. There have been two recurring themes in my life this week: research and sickness.
As far as research is concerned, I am hard at work. I am preparing the long presentation of my first paper right now. The long version will be used in my comprehensive exam defense on April 2. I need to have this done by the beginning of the week so I can practice and be ready to try it out in front of Z at the end of the week. The short version will be used at the conference in San Francisco the following week. So, lots of pressure there. The second paper is in the data collection stage and is taking forever. Because our school doesn’t subscribe to any actual REIT databases, I have to collect information from about 4 or 5 different sources and then manually combine it into one data set to use for my analysis. I am dealing with around 1,000 data points. So, it is an arduous task. I have decided that Scott qualifies as a research assistant and have him dealing with matching my lead underwriters with their rankings. Somehow a version of this paper will need to be completed by the end of the semester.
Sickness has been the other theme of the week. Luke is finally getting over the long-lived cold, but Brooke has not been herself all week. She has been sick one day and better the next. She has had a fever, complained of a stomach ache, developed a cough, and finally a runny nose. Friday morning Brooke was fine as we left for school. Part of the way there, I look back at her and see her looking pale and tired. Two hours later, I get the call to come pick her up. She was probably in the worst shape I have ever seen. Paige, the preschool director, was just holding her in the office. She could barely hold her head up or stand. Her fever was around 103. She was holding her tummy and complaining that it hurt. We were not even sure how I was going to get her home. Paige helped me get her out to the car, and one of her teachers called the doctor to let him know what was going on and that we were on our way. She was falling asleep on me while we waited to see him, and she was talking but not making sense at all. It was pretty scary. Her temp was high, so they gave her Motrin while we waited. That started to kick in, and she was a little better. She tested positive for strep, but the ped said he thinks that is a secondary infection and that she had some other kind of underlying infection. When I got her home, she went into my bed to rest and watch tv away from Luke. She was in bad shape until about bedtime when we improved and was able to keep down some jello and break her fever.
Testing: 1,2,3
Posted by Administrator on 18 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
These quizzes are now floating around some blogs I read, so I decided to go ahead and do them to for fun.
You Are Olive Green |
 You are the most real of all the green shades. You’re always true to yourself.For you, authenticity and honesty are very important… both in others and yourself. You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you. People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know. |
You Are Very Happy |
 Your life is totally together, and you enjoy every day.And you don’t need a quiz to tell you that! You know how to find pleasure in the little things… And even when life isn’t so great, you have a good sense of perspective. |
You are 73% Cancer |
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Cornucopia of Clothes
Posted by Administrator on 17 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
The good thing about the stomach virus was that it seems to have put me over the edge and helped me down to my pre-pregnancy size. I still feel like I have a few pounds to lose and a lot of toning work ahead of me, but I am officially down to my old clothing size. I celebrated by pulling a bin of clothes out of storage that I have not seen in about a year and a half. I completely forgot that I even owned most of these things and am very excited by all the new wardrobe options I now have. I think my students will also be happy to see me in something other than the same three bottoms.
The Trip: Summarized
Posted by Administrator on 16 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
The spring break trip was a whirlwind of exhaustion, fun, exasperation, and illness. Here is how it went down.
Friday: Packed up and headed for the airport after picking Brooke up from school. As usual, the US Airways flight was plagued with problems. The plane showed up at the time we were supposed to be pulling away from the gate. Once on the plane, we sat there for an hour doing nothing as they dealt with some “weight issues”. I seriously contemplated helping solve the problem by getting off the plane when Luke started crying. The crying continued on and off for the next two and half hours while he climbed all over me and got irritated that he could not get down or pound on the keyboard while Brooke watched Backyardigans on the laptop. I stuffed Cheerios in his mouth and attempted to keep him as calm as possible. In Philly we finally got there and got everything loaded into my mother’s car for the long ride to her house. We all collapsed when we got there, but at least there was no throwing up in the car this time.
Saturday: Throwing up was evidently saved for the next day when I woke up sick with Brooke’s stomach virus from earlier in the week. At home, Scott was also sick with it. I was debilitated all day and spent much time asleep in the bed or lying on the floor trying not to move. My parents were saviors. I hear that the kids were playing in the snow, but I missed everything.
Sunday: We chilled, and I attempted to regain myself from previous days’ illness. We went to the mall and saw where my grandparents will be moving.
Monday: Trip to NJ to visit my grandparents. We packed up some of the things from the house that I will be taking. I wanted to get my picture taken in front of the NJ sign, but there is no place to stop. I heart NJ.
Tuesday: Trip to outlets where we emptied the Carter’s and Gymboree outlets for the kids and the Ann Taylor outlet for me. I got a nice new suit for interviews and conferences. Also of note, Brooke and my mom kicked my butt at Candyland. Luke didn’t sleep well at all, and I was up with him once trying to get him chilled out.
Wednesday: Time to head back home. Our flight home was on Delta, and it was like night and day from our US Airways experiences. In Philly our plane was at the gate early, and we boarded and left on time. We got to Atlanta early, switched planes, and had another easy experience on that flight (25 minutes) home. We were very happy to be home, sleep in our own beds, and get back to our normal schedule. Well, everyone except Luke who is teething and had me up twice.
The Not a Fan of Suze Orman Club
Posted by Administrator on 15 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise
Evidently I am not the only one out there who has long been disgusted by Suze Orman. She is annoying and often gives stupid advice. I loved this article entitled “Is Suze Orman out of touch?”
Disconnect
Posted by Administrator on 09 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Random Noise, Finance and Economics
My students had to get their term paper topic approved by today, so I have been dealing with an onslaught of emails in addition to other piles of work in the past 24 hours. One student said that his topic was going to be electronic banking. I kindly responded that I was unaware of how electronic banking was really relevant to a course in real estate financing.
I am teaching about underwriting this morning and then packing everyone up to head out of town later today. I hope the trip is downright dull compared to last time. We will be back online in a few days.
Stress Stew
Posted by Administrator on 07 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: Preschool Princess
First you take an exhausted Ph.D. student and mother of two small children. Then you add in a husband, a business, and a class to teach. Throw in a seminar class requiring lots of papers to present and another to write. Oh wait…we forgot about that upcoming conference and dissertation proposal you are supposed to be preparing. For some spice, throw in two extra classes to teach, learning some software, and developing a computer assignment. Have I mentioned that we are leaving in less than 2 days and I have no laundry done, nothing ready, and have only thought about what time we need to leave and wondered when I am going to pack everything? You know what is missing? If you answered a puking three-year old, you would be correct! Yes, she has been sick since she got home from preschool today. Because really what we needed was a little more excitement around here.
