week one

First week of classes of the fall semester down. A few more to go. For the first time ever I have managed to schedule all of my classes on Tuesdays/Thursdays. I'll be on campus pretty much all day with some nice breaks in between for coffee and library time. Work will take up four of the other days of the week. Why so much work? Well, it looks like my final petition for financial aid will be denied. So this semester it's all me. It's doable. Does anyone know the how much they pay for blood these days?
Work isn't all bad. The museum has me teaching outreach classes among other things. Friday was spent with fourth graders doing the California program. It's not such a bad gig when one of the cute little buggers comes up at the end just to tell you you're awesome. The new museum space construction should be done by year end, so that adds a new level of excitement to the place. And it sounds like some staffing shifts should work out nicely.
As for the other pay for work place. The one where I count other peoples money all day. This morning I was scheduled to work at a branch thirty minutes away. After staying up late last night having an amazing home cooked dinner and going to see the late showing of Inglorious Basterds with friends I get up after a mere four hours of sleep to go in. I arrive to a staff that has no idea I'm scheduled to be there and have no need of me. The manager who made the request was on vacation. I leave a message for my boss, pour a cup of coffee and take off. I'm all dressed up with no where to go. On the upside I'm awake and have an unplanned day to myself. So I'm going to clean the apartment, buy laundry detergent and go to the library. I'm so exciting, I know.

work week

This week I taught my first two classroom outreach classes for the museum. Calif. Indian Life and Culture. The ages ranged from five through ten years old. I was a little terrified. Yes, terrified of children. Thirty sets of little judgmental eyes just waiting to eat me alive. It turned out well though. The kids were all interested (or at least pretended) and enjoyed the hands on time. None of them were bleeding when I left and the museum teaching collection all made it back intact. I'm calling it a success. Plus all excellents on the evaluations from the teachers helped out a bit.
Also went out and helped with a nature awareness training for teenagers who will be volunteering in camp programs this year and helping out with younger kids. Groups of twelve for ten minutes at a time for around two hours, almost 100 teenagers in a park in the middle of the afternoon. Yeah, I was ready for a drink by the end of the day. How I ended up teaching the "Which Tree Am I?" station is beyond me. (Although Dad was pretty proud that I remembered some of what he taught me as a kid.) We went over identification for ten native trees then they did their own observation of a nearby tree. They were to touch, smell and look at the tree and come up with their own name for it. A tool they could use with younger kids to get them to pay attention to the outdoors. Then they came back, we discussed, and I tested them on the original ten trees and their uses. And I was pleasantly surprised that most of them actually retained the info. At least for those ten minutes. Hopefully they at least remember a few by now. But that wasn't the main point for them anyway. It was to more to get them comfortable to encourage the kids they mentor to observe nature around them.
Oh yeah, and I worked at the bank twice. Still not my favorite place to be. At least it's air conditioned.

Really?

For the record, I'm not one of those creative types who is easily put off. I take criticisms, critiques, and people flat out not liking my work fairly well. Today, not so much.

I had been helping out with a design concept for a section of a display. I had worked out a rough draft, and explained how the sketch could be realized in a life size version. The powers that be liked the idea, and went with it. One power that be decided to have someone else fabricate it. That was all well and good. I was flattered that they went with the idea.
Until I saw the reality. Here's the thing. It was a rough draft. I assumed the new artist would take the idea and build upon it. It was nowhere near a polished version. Yet, that was what ended up on the wall. My good design ended up looking ick. My good mood was in the toilet for the rest of the morning.